It's High School
by Saxima
Summary: This is high school. And let me be the one to tell you, it's always better than a soap opera. SasuNaru, GaaNaru slight. Yaoi, Shounen-Ai
1. New

**A/N-** This was the first story I ever wrote and started it about the middle of fall 2007. It only has eleven chapters, chapter eleven not being done yet. Just in case some of you all might have LiveJournal accounts, this is namikaze_sama. So I hope you forgive the shortness. It was my first. lol

* * *

_Great_. That's just great. No better yet, let's just make it the best, the best thing ever. What a bunch of bullshit.

If there's two things Uzumaki Naruto hated the most in the entire world, it was bad, crappy tasting ramen and being a new kid. And not just a new kid, he was _the_ new kid. Gaara'd told him so. And that was seriously messed up. Beyond that.

He'd just finished unpacking the rest of his stuff into that kind of apartment for teenagers who didn't have parents or the teenagers who didn't want to live with their parents. Well, as for Naruto, he didn't have any parents at all. Under the no parents category.

Naruto lay on this new bed exhausted from carrying things up and down the stairs, he lived on the top floor; it made his back hurt so much. He was just relived that no one saw him doing it, people used to stare at him all the time, and he hated it. It wasn't a just a pet peeve, it was something he hated more than some of life itself. The last thing he wanted to do today was attract attention to himself.

He got off his bed and went to go look for his new school uniform. Where was that damn uniform, he knew he'd laid it somewhere around the place. Hell, it could be _anywhere_ in this mess. Finally, he found it. Just the sight of the thing was disgusting. When he first moved here, the district had to practically, no, they _did _threaten him to where the stupid thing.

_I hate it._ Back at his old school in Kawagari**, they never had to wear uniforms. Although, the place was the worst port town to live in the Hokkaido island.

Every single day something bad happened, murders, raping, kidnappings, you name it, it happened. And it wasn't just an exaggeration like a lot of other things were. Everyone else in Nippon called it a cursed city, but Naruto supposed after you lived there your whole life up until where he was now, you'd gotten used to it. Whispers spread all over Japan, and they reached the home continent. People started coming to see if it was the truth. And then...it reached the U.S.A., and then they started coming...

_It's getting pretty late,_ Naruto thought, _I'd better get ready for tomorrow._ Ugh, he didn't even think of what could possibly go wrong. _Just about every thing. _He dragged himself into the bathroom reluctantly, turned on the hot water, stripped himself of his clothes, and stepped in. Oh, that hot water felt so good running down his back like it did. At least it made him relax a little more. He didn't even know why he was stressing so much in the first place. Maybe it was the thought of being all alone again, or not. Maybe this time things would change.

Naruto turned off the water, wrapped a towel around his waist and went to his room. After he put on his pajamas, Naruto threw himself on his bed. He laid there with the towel draped on his head. Crap, all the bad thoughts were coming back to him. No matter how much he tried to push them out, they just seemed to come back for more, like his mind has fun torturing him. After all that thinking, and all the torture his mind seemed to enjoy, Naruto fell into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The next morning when Naruto woke up, he toppled over his bed, and on the floor, faced down. He groaned as he pushed himself up.

"Whatta freakin' crappy start to this shitty day..." he mumbled to the obviously no one around himHe looked around for his uniform, and when he found it he put it on. _Yuck, this is too…preppy for my taste. _he thought.

_Well kid, you better get used to it, it's what you'll be wearing for the next four years._ said a little voice in the back of his head. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Naruto said aloud. He stopped when he realize that no one had said anything. _I must be losing it...crazy voice..._

He walked into the kitchen, and immediately walked back out. Naruto felt way too nervous to eat any thing at this point. He might accidentally regurgitate it later in the day if something embarrassing happens. With a long and dramatic sigh, he grabbed his backpack and keys, locked his door, and then left for the bus stop.

When Naruto arrived at the bus stop, there were already a big group of kids. He decided it was best to avoid them, solution, sit on a bench a few yards away from the group. _This sucks. I wish Kohona moved here with me, this might not be this hard. But no, they had to keep her so they could keep on using as their fuck-toy cuz I wasn't there anymore. _

Otomushi Kohona was Naruto's childhood best friend. She was so beautiful, and he hated the people of the Kawagari for the way that used her and him. Like little toys that could be raped over and over, that had a never ending supply of fucking orgasms from another human, when they couldn't fucking masturbate. Besides all the deep hostility there, Naruto had the biggest crush on her for just about as long as he could remember, and she knew it too.

"Oi baka, if you don't pay attention, you're going to miss the bus." Being dragged away for his thoughts of the past, Naruto looked up and saw a boy with onyx black eyes and raven black hair. His skin was this weird shade of porcelain that looked as smooth as it did breakable.

"Oh arigato…" Naruto pushed himself off the bench and fallowed the boy onto the bus. When they were on, he didn't even bother to sit next to the boy, and much to Naruto's relief, the boy didn't seem to want to sit with him either.

Naruto put himself in the very back, looking around to make sure no one noticed him, they didn't. One point for relife. While they were riding, He thought he'd take this chance to look around Konoha. Later on in the ride, the people on the bus stared to notice him and stare. One point for "holy shit, they've noticed me". _Oh crap, I hate it when they stare, it makes me feel so uncomfortable. _Naruto thought shifting away from the looks and whispers.

By the time it was time to get off the bus, everyone on it was pointing, staring, and whispering. Naruto was officially the new kid. And that was point two for "holy shit".

"Who's that?"

"What's his name?"

"Why do you think he's here?"

Naruto ignored them as best as he could. It should've come easily from many years of practice back home, but this time it seemed different. His surroundings, the atmosphere, the people, they all seemed more hard, down to earth, and not a bunch of perverted jackasses. The whole thing would take some getting used to, Naruto was sure of that.

He looked up and saw Konoha High, the privet school. It was huge! It was twice the size of his old school in Kawagari, and that was big. When Naruto walked into the school, the new unknown maze of life in his high school career, he didn't know his life was going to be changed forever.

* * *

So, what'd you think of it? Thoughts? Comments?  
You can only do it if you review!! So whatta ya waitin' for??  
Step to it!!!! lol

*I don't know if this is a real city or not, but I did make it up from my head.

**Heartless: **Good job fellas, I think we're off to a good start.  
**Naruto:** I like this, it seems...I could turn out to be the awesomest person of the story, like always.  
**Sasuke: **Don't get too full of yourself, usuratonkachi.  
**Naruto: **I'm sorry, I don't think anyone asked you teme.  
**Heartless: **Alright you two, don't make me drag Sai in here too early.  
**Naruto:** *throws up hands* No! I will withdraw from the story!! I HATE him!!  
**Sasuke:** We agree for once  
**Heartless:** ^^;


	2. Class

**A/N-** Here's chapter two. Yesterday I was watching this video about "Hands Held High" by Linkin' Park, I cried so hard...It was really so sad. The little editor document is being weird, so it takes me a while to actually put up the chapter after I load it...I wonder if my computer just doesn't like me very much...'cause apparently YouTube doesn't, they keep copyrighting my videos and I have to keep remaking them! It sucks... Well anyways, I hope you enjoy chapter two!!

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The first thing Naruto did when he walked into the school was look up and down the hallway. The place looked so peculiar, so different. He looked some more and spotted something he didn't expect to see any time today. But it was the second point for relief. A good, not great, note on the day's list.

A boy with reddish hair and jade blue eyes was leaning against a locker. Naruto found a familiar tattoo on the right of the boy's forehead. Was that really Gaara? He didn't know, but he was going to find out.

"Oi! Gaara! Is that you?" Naruto pushed strait across the hall. The redhead looked around to see who was calling his name that way he could pound them. He was definitely surprised to find that it was Naruto calling him. He blinked as the blonde stood right in front of him.

"Naruto? Is that you?" he asked in surprise, and surprise was a very rare thing for Gaara to be.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto was so relived to find some on that he knew on campus _and _on his first day of school and a new one. "Hey, the last time I saw you was the last day of school back in third grade, remember?" Naruto said nostalgically, and happy.

Like Naruto, Gaara lived in Kawagari with him and Kohona. Along with him was his sister and brother Temari and Kankurou. He was the most mature one out of all of them even though he was the second youngest. Naruto could depend on him for just about everything, he was just that loyal. He was a great friend when needed, even though he gave just about everyone the cold shoulder.

"Of all the places for you to transfer to, I never thought it would be the same school as me." Gaara said a little bit off-handedly.

Naruto scowled at his friend, "Jeez, I thought you'd be a little more happy to see me around the same place with you, so much for a good friendship." he said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, don't let this face fool you, I really do care." Gaara replied just as sarcastically.

That was the one thing about him he was so...glum. He almost never smiled and never really liked to have any fun. That's why he and Naruto were friends, he supposed, you know what they say, opposites attract.

"Well, whatever. Do you know where the office is? Like you obviously know, I'm new so it's not like I'd know anything about this ridiculous maze of a place." Naruto said scowling again. Stupid school. Stupid being the new kid.

"You're completely hopeless without me you know that? I don't think I even wanna know how you managed to keep sane without me…Come on, I'll take you." And Gaara started to walk off, and Naruto had no choice but to fallow him. He was just a new kid after all and he hated it. In his head he kept repeating, "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it." on different levels of annoyance.

Wow. Naruto didn't know any kind of hall could drag on for so long. After what seemed like and entirety, they reached the office.

"Moshimo-san?" Gaara asked a small woman sitting at the receptionist's desk.

She looked up and her calling, "Oh, hello there Gaara-kun, what can I do for you on this, the first day of school?" she asked a little peppy than necessary.

"Well...this is Uzumaki Naruto, the exchange student from Kawagari." She looked at Naruto, who was feeling slightly uncomfortable. Sure Gaara, say _the _instead of _a_. Jackass…

"Oh little boy," she squealed, and it scared Naruto "You should feel very special! Konoha hasn't had a new student since Gaara-kun and his siblings moved here!"

Oh yeah, what was that suppose to do? Make him feel better, or special? Good job lady… _Crap, thanks lady, I feel so much better about all of this._ Naruto thought internally annoyed to no end. Point three for holy shit…

"Well since you're new, we'll put you in the same scheduled group as Gaara-kun; you appear to know each other." Moshimo-san said. Gaara nodded in reply. Moshimo-san gave Naruto a schedule on tanned paper.

Math first, history, free period, _I'm gonna like that. _Naruto thought. Orchestra? Well he could play the piano and the cello. Had quite a talent for it too. Reading, science, English, and _training?_ What the hell? What kind of training? Naruto sighed, but nodded in defeat of his schedule. What a shitty year this would probably turn out to be anyways. But who knows…with Gaara with him, and maybe Temari and Kankurou along the way, it _might_ not be so bad. But that was a very _slim_ chance.

"Well, run along now, the bell will be ringing any minute now." Moshimo-san said shooing them. Gaara left with out a word, and Naruto fallowed quickly in suit. "Is this good? I mean I get to stay with you, so that way you can help me." Naruto said. Gaara was silent. "You know you could say something." Naruto tried again. Gaara opened a door and went in; Naruto fallowed.

The whole classroom was loud and noisy.

first, Naruto didn't want to move the spot that he was standing in, he seemed to be frozen in place, but Gaara had already taken a set by the eastern most wall. Quickly and cautiously, Naruto went to go sit in the seat next to Gaara; that was a bad mistake.

"Hey blondie," A girl with pink bubble gum hair, called out, "Why're you sitting next to him? The kid's going to kill you." Gaara threw the girl a look that made her shut her mouth. Everyone looked at Naruto and Gaara sitting next to him. Naruto looked around at the students and found the boy that told him to get to the bus. His skin still looked so breakable… The raven haired looked at him, not glaring, not staring, just looking. For a slight second Naruto felt welcomed, and a little less tense. A feeling that wore down very quickly.

Then the bell rang for class to begin. "Alright class, settle down." Everyone looked in the doorway to find a man with silverish, grey, feathery hair. "Class has begun. I'm your math teacher, Hatake Kakashi, and I'll be teaching you…well math. But it's different than what you learned in eighth year, it's called algebra." Everyone looked at the man curiously. "Before we start anything else, I'd like to introduce the new student. You know who you are, so come on up." he said. At first, looking around, Naruto slowly rose from his seat next to Gaara, and with a heavy sigh went to the front of the class. "Ok everyone, this is Uzumaki Naruto. He just moved here a few weeks ago from the port town of Kawagari." Kakashi said.

"You came from Kawagari? You mean that messed up little port city? Hey boy, did you ever get raped?" A boy sitting in the middle row with black hair asked.

Kakashi was quick on the reaction, "Nakamori Shun, right? Ah, on the first day of school and you've already received a detention. You _do not_ ask those kind of questions to a new student, no matter where they're from." He was calm, and not out of control like some other teacher would be. And to Naruto, that was surprising, considering the kind of teachers he used to have back at Kawagari High...man, those were some crazy people. But, nonetheless, they were the best people around to know...which was very sad indeed.

Naruto turned slightly pink, and Gaara knew why; the answer to that question was yes, ever since he was six.

"Hey Uzumaki, what was life living in a dump like that?" asked a boy with red stripes on his cheeks.

Naruto looked up at the boy. "What's life livin' in a dump like you house?" he shot back hotly, sticking his thumb down, his face red. The class gasped, and some people laughed.

"Oh, ho ho, so now we have a class smart-ass." they boy growled.

"Inuzuka Kiba? Detention for you too. We don't use such foul language while I'm here." Kakashi said. " I'll let you off easy Uzumaki-san, only because you're new. But be wary, you won't have another freebie from me again this semester.

"That's enough you freaking bullies, leave him alone!" said a girl with brown buns in her hair.

"Aww, what's the matter Tenten, you got the hots for little blondie up there?" someone else asked. Some people laughed at the comment.

"You want to say that again?" she asked. Her tone was fierce…not to mention a little startling. And it shut that boy up.

Naruto didn't like this, he didn't like in corner or edge of this cube of hell he just got thrown in. The raven watched as he went to go sit down in hidden embarrassment. Now all Naruto wanted to do was get this day over with and plan his suicide attempt, or not. This counted as two points for holy shit…making the total for that category five…

When that was over Kakashi-sensei started to talked about the rules of the classroom. Naruto wasn't listening, he was to busy trying to push out all the memories the were flooding back into his mind. Why did that boy have to bring up rape? Was that some kind of joke to all of them? Did it make them laugh, or was it a just a good story to tell?

Gaara looked at his blonde friend with pity. Well, he was going to have to do something about this, now wasn't he? Gaara's never seen the blonde cry or look down. And when Naruto needed him, Gaara was going to be there, he was going to do something. Naruto was never like this back home. Well, all that change today.

* * *

Sorry for the shortness of the chapters. This was my first fiction, and I wasn't...as experienced as I am now. But I think as we do go on, the chapters start getting longer and longer, little by little...  
(Hey that's the name of a JPop group!!)


	3. After First Class

A/N- And once again...here is the third chapter. I know they're a little short, back then short was all I was capable of. But I think they get longer, I don't really remember...  
So please be patient with me, and bear with the shortness of the chapters. (I literally beg of you!!)

Thanks!

* * *

Naruto sure the hell didn't get through math with flying colors. As a matter of fact it was spent trying to forge withdrawal papers, but then Naruto finally gave up because he remembered something important: _He had no parents. _Therefore he could not forge them.

Only parents were allowed to make withdrawals from a school. Which turned out to be a very large disadvantage and disappointment for our little blonde friend. He would mumble and complain in his head all day. And he still could do nothing about it.

Gaara spent the rest of class trying to find out where he was going to kick Kiba's ass, how he was going to kick Kiba's ass, and what time he was going to kick Kiba's ass. Because, oh yes, he _was _going to Kiba's ass and make it hurt. And Kiba was obvious of know it too.

Finally, after forever of a long-stretched first period, the bell rang to end the first chamber of hell. Naruto was the last to leave, but at least Gaara was waiting at the door for him to hurry. Naruto grabbed all his stuff, discouraged by the events of earlier, and met Gaara at the door. _But I am going to pull through this, and I'll make sure that it won't bother me later… _

"Gaara, did they do this to you when you first moved here?" Naruto asked, slightly embarrassed even with his confident thoughts.

Gaara was silent for a moment, thinking back to that long ago. Nope, he didn't recall. "As a matter of fact no, no they didn't."

"Na na, lucky. Those little bastards are jerks, and don't even know what the hell they're talking about…" Naruto growled.

"Everyone of those 'little bastards' is still scared of me, they wouldn't dare do anything to make me mad." They walked down the hall in a painful silence. Now Naruto wished he wouldn't have said that. Besides Kankuro and Temari, Naruto and Kohona were the only ones to talk to him; everyone else though he was too scary. But it's not like he was…to Naruto at least.

He fallowed Gaara down a series of more halls, navigating their way around many students in their way, kind of parting because of Gaara. Into another classroom, and much to Naruto's dismay, he saw most of the kids that were in his last class, including the boy with the red stripes and loud mouth. One more time…Naruto was thinking, and he would go off. He decided, no matter how embarrassing things were going to get, they weren't about to mess with him.

Naruto, just because he comes off as the easily embarrassed type at first, was really an unorthodox kind of person. Also, he was an unpredictable fighter.

But…just like last time, Naruto sat with Gaara. For…a more comfortable feeling to the room, of course. Except this time, no one made a comment about it. No one even tried eye contact with Naruto. They were probably to frightened of Gaara. They should be afraid of Naruto too…

Everyone in the room was a little chatty, waiting for the bell to ring. Passing time was only ten minutes, but that was a lot considering the four they gave back a Kawagari High… The bell rang.

Then, someone walked into the room unannounced. It was a man with hair as white as snow, pulled back, and had two long, but thin strips of red going down either side of his face. He was taller than their last teacher and much older looking. Looked like he'd been through a lot of…episodes.

"Good morning to you all, I am Jiraiya, your history teacher for the ninth grade year. First off, you'll either like me or you won't. If you don't, I won't mind, no skin off my shoulders, but if you do happen to disrespect me, I can make your life a living hell, or at least here in my class. If you like me then we'll get along just fine." he said.

"Well what a welcome note that was." murmured a girl with long blond hair and blue eyes. Naruto and the other students agreed with her, that note was sounding kind of like a death threat. Which frankly, to Gaara, wasn't a bad thing. Maybe this'd be the only teacher he'd get along with. Or not

The man named Jiraiya walked over to where Naruto was sitting, at which point the whole class was staring at him. Point six for holy shit, where were the relief points around here?

Jiraiya put his hand on his chin, "So, you're the new kid I've already heard so much about?" More out of fear and embarrassment than anything else, Naruto nodded.

Jiraiya laughed, "Well kid, you don't have to look like I'm going to kill you."

"R-right." Naruto said, unsurely, because truth be told, he didn't know if that was true or not. Jiraiya turned around, he walked back to the front of the class.

"Well, I don't know if your previous teacher told you this, but every teacher has a aide teacher. You all will probably be meeting most of them tomorrow, if they all decide to show up." Jiraiya explained adding that last part, as if he knew one of them wasn't going to.

"Alright, since we've gotten all of that out of the way, I'll explain the rules of my class."

And with that, Naruto completely zoned out; he notice that the raven hair was looking at him. Naruto couldn't seem to look away from the boy, like something was holding him locked like that. It was thanks to Gaara that Naruto looked away at all.

Jiraiya took up the whole class explaining his rules and his life-story, mentioning something about him writing a book called Make-Out Paradise…and all that other stuff that Naruto found useless for history. And the point to all of it in the end was...nothing. Of course

The bell rang, and Naruto knew what that meant, it was free period. The way things were going now, the blonde didn't feel to content on walking around his new school. He especially knew that he didn't want to run into that raven.

_Why is staring at me in the first place? It's not like I did anything to him, did I? _Naruto thought, confused on his strange classmate's behavior.

Naruto looked at his schedule once more to see how long free period was going to last.

Huh, a whole hour…to walk around the school? _These people are way to generous. _He went to go and catch up to Gaara. Naruto was used to a more…stricter schedule, teachers standing on every corner of every hallway, monitoring, telling the other students to get to class quickly. There was no "free time."

"So Gaara, what are we going to do?" he asked, anxiously, only because he had to tail Gaara around the whole time, otherwise he might get lost in the giant maze. Why they would make a school, not to mention a private one, so big, Naruto would never know. The red head seem to be lost in thought.

"Uhh…Gaara?" Naruto tried again.

"What?" he growled, snapping out of his "beat Kiba's ass" day-dream. Naruto 'eep'ed in the most manly way possible. Which, by the way, wasn't that manly, because of Gaara's natural ability to scare the living hell outta Naruto.

"Umm…did-did you hear my question?" he asked a little stunned by Gaara's sudden change in voice. Ouch, scary.

And he didn't answer the question, focusing on something else.

"What're we going to do?" he asked. Damn Gaara…

Still no reply.

Of course, was Naruto's first thought, "Are you going to answer me?" Irritation was revealing itself, in a way that if Naruto got mad, he might actually try to _do _something to make his silent friend speak.

And nothing. Geez, Gaara was no fun. He was like a mute, or a person bent on never talking. Persuasion on him was always a tough challenge, even for his brother and sister.

Naruto was starting to get to the point where he just wanted to smack the living crap outta Gaara, but Naruto knew that that would only shorten his life-span. And finally, at last, Gaara answered.

"We're going to go put our bags and books in out next class, that way we don't have to worry about it later and carry them around for the whole hour." His eyes flashed almost menacingly at Naruto.

Naruto flinched at first, then as the words sunk in, he grinned. That made since. And finally a point three for relief. But he figured it'd be the last one for maybe quite a while. "Ok…right. Let's go." he grinned again.

* * *

So?  
Any good? Or shoulD I give up being a writer forever? Lol  
Thanks for reading!!


	4. Free

**A/N-** Can you believe it's taking me so freakin' long to do this? I can't. Thank God I'll still have access to all of my files when I go to Spain…Can you believe that I'm going all the way there just to freakin' baby sit?? It's ridiculous! I mean come on, who goes global just to baby sit? On the upside I get paid $350 and my round ticket is paid for!!!

* * *

Kiba was walking down the hall with Shino, Shikamaru, and Chouji.

Nara Shikamaru was a genius, Akimichi Chouji loved to eat, Aburame Shino was a bug fanatic, (he says it gives him a sense of peace...no one knows...) and Inuzuka Kiba loved dogs.

It was weird but they all got along as if they were brothers. They'd known each other practically long enough to be so. The thing was that the more Kiba thought about it, the funnier it was to him…Shikamaru: lazy. Chouji: hungry. Shino: bug lover. Kiba: dog lover. Yeah…it had to be funny, in some way, it had to be a funny thought.

"Hey Shino," Kiba said, turning on a new thought.

And just as Gaara, Shino didn't bother to answer. He wasn't much of the talking type anyways. And he disliked people that talked too much. So why he was friends with Kiba was a very puzzling obscurity.

"What d'you think of that new blonde boy, what was his name…? Oh yeah, Naruto." Kiba asked interested. That kid seemed like a really interesting person."_ 'Cuz I know I wanna meet him…_

Shikamaru looked over at his wild friend. Whatta queer, was always his thought when Kiba mentioned anything about boys and meeting them. But of course Shikamaru didn't mean it in a bad way. Kiba, after all was one of his best friends and a good person to know in a tight situation. So there was nothing wrong with the kid being a little queer. Or maybe half, for he knew that Ino's good friend Hinata liked him.

"I don't know, he's looks like the very easily embarrassed type." Chouji interrupted while eating a bag of chips. Man, he was hungry…he couldn't wait until lunch, the best part of the day, and of course his favorite.

Still no reply from Shino.

"Eh, he's ok. But getting new students, especially at our school, is such a pain." Shikamaru said. And it was, there weren't many new kids at the private school. The last new one they had added to their graduating class was Gaara, back in forth year. Elementary school.

"You know Shikamaru, I think we should get to know the kid a little better." Kiba grinned, and he really did mean it. He wanted to get to know the little blonde better. They could end up being really good friends.

Shikamaru snorted, Shino still seemed to not be listening. "Oh, hell no Kiba. Do you want to be put on your death bed at the age of fifteen?" Chouji shivered.

"Now why would you say that?" Kiba asked, cocking his eyebrow curiously at his chubby friend. Sometimes, he could be a little off.

"Well, because that 'Naruto kid' hangs around with Mr. Death himself." Shino finally joined.

"Well…you got me there, but still we could find some way around Gaara." And Kiba was going to be stubborn all the way through. He wanted to meet the blonde. And he was going to find a way to do it. That was that.

"Why are you always so persistent?" Shikamaru asked, becoming tired of his friends continuous talking.

"Why are you so lazy?" Kiba retorted, knowing that Shikamaru was becoming irritated.

* * *

"I'm going to teach that new boy the meaning of youth!" Lee said happily.

"Lee, put a sock in it." Neji said, rolling his eyes, "The last thing we need this year is another Gai junior." And he knew he was right. One Gai was bad enough, with all his "youth" crap. Then you got another one over here trying to get everyone else into it. A third would be too much for the ninth year to handle. And then the three of them together…well it was just too dark to even think about.

"What are you talking about? Gai sensei is just the coolest, hands down!" Lee said in his idol's defense, looking at his friend.

"More like no hands." Tenten sighed, "Lee…what ever you do, don't manipulate him into another one. If you do, then you'll have us to deal with." she finished in a death toned voice. She didn't want to have to deal with another Gai Jr. either, it be too much and, the whole school would be running.

"Tenten your words are so sharp, if I reply I might cut myself." Lee said, sighing and slouching in fake defeat.

"Hey Neji, that kid seems easily embarrassed, huh?" Tenten said, just then thinking about it.

* * *

Raped…Kawagari…and Gaara? No wonder the kid's so messed up. Not that he cared or anything. (Really) The kid was so easily embarrassed. So, what was up with that?

A kid from Kawagari, and a story behind him. Every student, well…most students had a clean past, but this kid, he was different. And then there was that familiarity about him. Like Sasuke'd seen him somewhere else before. Like in a picture or video.

He ignored the crowd of girls stalking him and hiding some place safe when he looked over his shoulder. Man, that was annoying. For the past years, he's gotten used to it. The girls used to be in a small group, then it grew and grew and eventually they started splitting up into little groups.

And then he heard his name.

Uh-oh…yea it was no mistake, Sasuke could hear the girly voices of Ino and Sakura sounding for him. He better scram, otherwise he might not make through the day alive...

_Uzumaki Naruto…_ Sasuke thought, continuing down the hall in the activated evasive mode.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun!" called Yamanaka Ino down the hall, "Where are you?" She wanted to find him before little billboard-brow over here did. She was the calm one and wanted to say away from a fight that would, of course, turn out in her favor.

"Ino pig, even if you did find him, he would still fall for me." Sakura said superiorly, twirling with her short pink hair. Ah, that little piggy would never understand, she just wasn't good enough for her Sasuke-kun. He was hers after all and she wasn't about to let little piggy over here take him from her.

Hinata sighed, her two Sasuke-kun crazed friends. But she was going to stay out of it, because the both of them could get pretty vicious. Hinata could handle them though, thanks to her cousin Neji, who taught her the family's fighting technique. Hinata didn't want to have to use it. She wasn't exactly the want-violence type.

"Step down billboard-brow! Sasuke's mine!" Ino said, clashing foreheads with her best friend slash rival.

The truth was, Sasuke didn't like either of them. If he had his way, they'd both be locked up…very far away…He didn't even want to hear their ridiculous voices calling for him all over the damn place.

Hinata sighed again, poor Sasuke-kun. "H-hey you guys, you should leave him alone. I-I'm sure he's not even-around here. I-if you keep going, you might lose your voice." she said, trying to coax her wild friends.

Ino heard Hinata and stopped, she'd just thought of something more…constructive to talk about. "Sakura?"

Sakura stopped too, she looked at her blonde friend, "Huh, what?"

"What's up with that new kid?" And what a weird one he was, but not so bad, shooting back at Kiba like that. It was pretty funny. And Ino figured Kiba found a new little spark in his system. Ahh, poor Hinata. But he liked her too. So maybe her timid friend still had a chance, even though very many boys have asked her out, she only said yes to very few of them. She wanted Kiba to ask her out, then she would be really happy.

"That new kid, oh, you mean the one in algebra and history this morning, What about him?" Sakura asked curiously. Yeah, the one that was with Death himself. Ugh, poor kid, didn't know what he was getting himself into.

"I don't know. He's so weird, or he seems like it. Did you see his reaction to Kiba when he brought up rape? It was like, a strait off give away to yes. If you're going to lie about something, do it good, don't have a reaction like that." Ino said, shaking her head.

Hinata did kind of agree with her. Poor boy…

Sakura thought for a moment. Yes, that kid did turn an unusually bright shade of red, one that probably wasn't registered in the natural world. Sakura thought something like that wasn't even possible. But then again…weirder things have happened.

"Well, if you ask me, he seems pretty fragile. Like, you touch you break fragile. And then he has that easily embarrassed quality. Other than that, he's pretty cute." Ino giggled. But he could never compare to Sasuke, or moreover Shikamaru, who she thought was absolutely perfect. But she would never say that.

Sakura thought about that, "Yeah, he is kind of cute, huh?" She laughed in her head, that was kind of a yeah right. But there was this certain charm about him that a father would approve of.

Easily embarrassed. And it wasn't all the way true.

That's what everyone seemed to think about Naruto.

* * *

Gaara showed Naruto around the school and familiarized him with everything; the orchestra room, the band room, choir room, home ec. room, gym, smaller gym, swimming pool, lunch room, (that one was Naruto's favorite.)

Naruto was amazed at the number of floors. Two. That was it. Just two, and it amazed him because Kawagari High had four. There were a lot of kids going there and the city never had enough to build a new school, so they kept adding more floors. Ugh, it was just sad thinking about it in comparison to this stick-up-the-ass school. No more.

"Oi, Gaara?" Naruto asked, still pushing away his previous thoughts of comparison.

Gaara didn't look at him, just made a "hmm" sound.

"Do…the cafeteria people make ramen here? Because you know that ramen is my favorite." Naruto pointed out.

Of course Gaara knew, that's what Naruto practically lived off. One day they went for a school check-up and Naruto was the healthiest of all of them, ('course he wasn't a virgin at the time, as Doc seemed to like to point out so often).

"So, how much time do we have left?" he asked. Gaara looked at his watch.

"Twenty minutes. Why, is there something you wanted to do before we had to get to class?" he asked, not even wanting to know what his little curious friend wanted.

Naruto seemed to hesitate, he didn't want to make Gaara irritated, though it was veeeerrry tempting. "Weeeeelll…since you know these people, not well, but well enough, I was thinking you could introduce me to them?" Naruto said in a small voice. Very tempting indeed, but he wasn't on a death wish.

For a moment, nothing. Then, "…No." was Gaara's simple answer.

Naruto made a face like a kid asking his mama for candy, "Aww, but Gaara..." he whined a little to add to the act.

"No." Again.

Gaara was unmovable, even back in Kawagari, unmovable, unmovable as a mountain. Nope, nuh-uh, no sirrie, not even a way in freakin' hell would Gaara budge from his mental spot.

"Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase!" Naruto begged, he made a good kid, not a good teen.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Because isn't a good enough answer!" Naruto huffed, obviously frustrated.

"Because I'm not a people person." Gaara answered, "No." he said again.

Naruto huffed again, "Fine."

See? Unmovable as a mountain.

While Naruto and Gaara argued, they didn't realize that that they ran into Lee, Neji, and Tenten.

_Oh no, this isn't good. This is practically what Lee wanted._ Tenten frowned at Neji who appeared to be thinking the same thing she was.

"Good day to you, youthful Uzumaki Naruto-kun!" Lee exclaimed, "You are the person I was looking forward to seeing this free period!"

_Oh my god! His eyebrows…they're so bushy!_ Naruto thought in amazement staring at the two little life-like puffs of hair on his face.

Oh yes, if you looked at Lee and Gai put together, they looked exactly alike, father and son. Or twins. Lee worshipped the man like he was God or something. Which he wasn't, he was just so youth-obsessed!

Neji appeared to read Naruto's mind, "Yes they are something aren't they?" he sighed.

Gaara looked at the three of them. If there was anyone you didn't want to run into in the hall, it'd be Rock Lee. He seemed do damned hyper all the time. Going on and on and on about one thing or the other. Gaara didn't know how anyone could put up with it. Then again, he just had a short fuse, but it was hard to start.

Gaara remembered last year in training, he was the most active kid in the whole class running around like some idiot. It rubbed off from the training teacher, Might Gai. Man, how Gaara wished he could've strangled that man, but Lee was always in his way. And he didn't want to be responsible for killing Sensei's precious little protégé.

"Um…hi?" Naruto said in an unsure voice.

"Hello! And how good it is to meet you! My name is Rock Lee! These are my youthful friends Hyuuga Neji and Tenten!"

She waved at Naruto. Still unsure of what was going on, Naruto waved back.

"Nice to meet you Uzumaki Naruto." Neji said in an unwarming and "I don't care to meet you" tone.

"…Hi." Naruto responded in the same voice.

_Lemme measure up to these people, act the way they do, then they'll learn what kinda person they're dealing with. I won't be embarrassed anymore. Cockiness and self-righteousness is the key._ Naruto thought, laughing a little in his head. Was he clever, or what?

At that moment the bell rang; time for next period.

* * *

Any good? You think so?  
Eh, so about the Spain thing…I have to deal with  
FIVE KIDS, it's like a freakin' disaster within itself  
I DON"T BELIEVE IT!!!!

Thank you.


	5. Rest of the Day

**A/N-** Here's chapter five, I just got back from Spain, I didn't get to post it at all because that stupid Mac had Pages and FF doesn't take .pages documents. So now that I'm back home, here it is!  
I hope you all enjoy it!! (By the way, I got paid $350!!)

* * *

Naruto fallowed Gaara down the hall and was surprised to find that Neji, Tenten, and Lee were going the same way. Well he guessed it wasn't that bad.

"So uh… what class do you have next Lee?" he asked. It'd be ok if they had the same class as him too, right? It's not he'd mind anyways...but...well, there was no "but", it just wasn't that big a deal.

"Orchestra." Instead Tenten answered. She had the same class as Lee and Neji anyways.

"Oh, really? What instrument do you play?" They had the same class as him too? What was this, the "Everybody had the same classes" schedule? _Same group as Gaara... _Aw crap, that meant he had class with all those other idiots too. That was BS. He didn't want to see those guys, day after day, period after freakin' period...well it wouldn't be like that for him on everyone, but just some certain people.

"Violin." she said, smiling. She loved playing it, ever since she was a little girl.

"I play the bass." Lee said proudly. Gai sensei said that was the most youthful of all the string

instruments. So he stuck to it and it stuck to him. A "match made in heaven."

"Cello." Neji responded carelessly. Whatever.

"Oh...I play the piano, but a little of the cello too." Naruto said. It'd been a while...could he still play them? He hoped so, he was obviously going to need it.

Naruto looked over at Gaara, who wasn't paying attention, looking bored, and could tell that he wasn't to...favored in joining the conversation. Whatta loner. Ah, well it wasn't like he blamed him anyways. But still, he wished he was a little more active...only, it was Gaara after all.

"Well it's good that you play piano, any good?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good. Not that shabby. At my old school I had very good teacher, he told me I had a natural talent for it. Err...what was his name? He baled on me after a while, don't know why. I forgot." he partly bragged but then remembered the man was shot and thrown off the port.

Naruto shivered a little.

"We haven't had a good pianist since that one kid in sixth grade, Shinobu Nukumori. They called CPS on his parents for abuse and drugs." Lee shook his head, "What a waste of youth…" Tenten rolled her eyes. "He ended up transferring to some really strict, but nice, school in France..."

Naruto was about to get competitive on who had the worse life, but then he didn't want the others to think that he was just trying to get them to feel bad for him. He had to be strong...yeah confident. And he sighed.

They walked down the hall, Neji and Gaara saying nothing, Naruto joining Tenten and Lee for a conversation on when Tenten went to Amerika.

"It was pretty cool, the people were nice. It was really sunny, and there were more big houses and mansions there than there were here. My flight landed in a state named, how do you say it, Karithornia? Karinorna, Kari-something."

"California?" Naruto said.

"Yes, that was it. How'd you know?" she asked curiously. "That's a good pronunciation for the English language."

"My only living relatives live over there. Not in California, but they live in...in...Texas, I think it was? Sometimes they'll call me to check up, see how things are going." he explained. "They think I have an unhealthy life-style, no parents, no guardian. They say that they're afraid I might lose it some day..." Sometimes he would pick up the phone, most of the time he wouldn't...Depending on his mood for that moment.

"Then why don't you go and live with them instead of living by yourself over here?" Lee asked. That was just common sense...if he ever had the chance to live with his idol Gai-sensei, the greatest person on this Earth, as his guardian...he would.

Lee did have a point, but Gaara knew Naruto better than that. He wouldn't dare go move in with someone unless he knew that they wouldn't hurt him or treat him differently than they would their own.

"Well…" Nope, now way he will not talk about that, besides…that, that's another story. "It's a long...story."

Their conversation had taken them all the way to the orchestra room. They walked in, and Naruto's first impression of it was a giant gently stained marshmallow. He wanted to laugh, it looked edible. And suddenly this was his favorite classroom. The others saw.

"Yeah, laugh if up while you can kid...We've got a strict teacher, and he won't play around. He'll punish you, in the most painful way a sensei can punish his seito." Neji said grimly.

Yes...Neji didn't like the orchestra teacher, Ebisu. Neji's pale, almost white eyes could see things others didn't, and he could tell he was a real pervert. He just couldn't get him to admit it. Everyone else in the class was oblivious to it. He noticed there was something wrong with all the teachers he had. Sigh…

"Where am I supposed to sit?" Naruto looked around. The room was pretty big. Basses on the side. Most likely, all the celli were in a storage room, because that's where Neji was headed.

"Sit in the section of your instrument most played." Lee replied, was that not obvious? Ah, this poor boy, so full of youth, yet not very smart.

"And where does the pianist sit?" Naruto looked around again.

"In the center of the class in between the second violins and violas." replied Tenten, pointing to the center of the room.

Naruto looked at the center of the room where a piano sat, "Okay!" He sat in the chair. He watched as Gaara went into the room that Neji did to get his cello. Tenten went to go get her violin case and Lee grabbed the long neck of his bass.

The rest of the students started filling the class, Naruto, by this time expecting those from his first two classes. But as _un_expected, in walked the pale-skinned, raven haired.

Naruto sighed miserably at the sight of him. His heartbeat flickered for some reason. Why, he didn't know. It was ridiculous for that to happen, he didn't even like that kid. Because he stared at him, and Naruto _hated_ when people stared at him for no reason or...some reason.

_Is he in all my classes? _Yeah, he probably was. He went to go sit in the celli section shortly after retrieving his cello from the storage room next to Neji. That was weird...if you thought about it, and really looked, those two could be brothers. Yeah, those two were brothers! Hmm...

Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino were the last people to walk into the classroom. Kiba, it'd become a reflex now, turned his head slightly to check if Naruto, who quickly looked away from his direction, was there.

_Stupid bringer-of–bad–of-bad-memories person. He gets on my fucking nerves..._ Why'd he have to be in the same class, again? But Naruto guessed it wasn't really a surprise, everyone from his last two classes were in there.

Sasuke looked at the blonde, then looked at Kiba. He happened to notice that he didn't dare to make contact with the boy.

"So Neji, how was your first free period?" Sasuke asked casually. As if he cared. It was known that the Uchiha didn't really care about anything.

"Eh, ok. I had to listen to Lee talking about youth again, it reminded me of eighth period this year." Neji replied not looking at Sasuke. Same situation.

"Did you meet blondie?" he asked nonchalantly. Neji probably did, not that he expected him to have.

"Ee, he walked down here with me, Gaara, Tenten, and Lee." Neji said, leaning his head back to look up at the ceiling.

"Hn. You walked with Mr. Death himself and didn't get killed?" Sasuke said. Well that was a surprise.

"Hai, that's Naruto's friend from when they were kids. He wasn't to happy about it, but that boy can seem to contain him." he replied, slightly nodding in Naruto's direction.

Gaara was the most isolated teen at their school, no one ever talked to him, or more like no one dared to. He always sat alone at lunch, trained alone in practice, and sat in the back…alone. Sasuke never paid a thought or any attention to him, because it was like he was never there in the in the first place. That was true for everyone else as well; it was a miracle someone got to him. That Naruto kid must be something very interesting, or complex to say they least.

The minute Ebisu walked into the class the room went quiet. And strait off the back, Naruto could tell he was a perv. It was so obvious, he wondered how he was a teacher at such a uptight school like this. He also wondered if any of the other kids knew this. They should, considering it was _so obvious_ that even Naruto figured it out. So how did he figure that out? How did he know that? It was a sad way to know, but he had years of practice, and had been stared at by that kind.

"So you are our new pianist, I see? You don't look like much to me." Ebisu fixed his perfectly circular shades. The whole class looked at Naruto except for Kiba, Gaara, Neji, and Sasuke.

Naruto cleared his throat, ignoring the twenty-something pairs of eyes staring at him, "Yeah, I'm the new pianist, do we have any issues with that?" he asked in a smart ass tone. He continued, "And FYI, I'm very good at it." He chose some pretty bold words and he wasn't afraid to get in trouble for them. The confidence was starting to coming to come natural to him.

"Well, you disrespectful little bug, I'll be the judge of that. Tomorrow, I assure you that you will play a five minute solo in front of the whole class, first thing." Ebisu glared at him from under his shades. This kid was such a brat.

"Fine." Naruto said sharply "I can play_ anything_ you throw at me…(freakin' pervert…)" Naruto finished under his breath.

"I'm sorry, I must have missed that, did you say something little bug?" Ebisu asked, eyeing Naruto suspiciously over his shades.

"Nothing sensei." Naruto said, suddenly innocent. As if this little pervert could catch him in an under-breath.

Ebisu fixed his shades again, "Hmph, as I thought. _Don't_ let me catch you in your little fun time._"_ he threatened darkly.

_This is going to be a good class. _thought Kiba, looking at Naruto, who was glaring at Ebisu sensei.

**

* * *

**

Reading seemed to skip by like that, all they did was talk about what they were going to be doing all year, which sounded like a lot, but Kurenai-sensei said it was less work than what it sounded like.

Naruto thought, thank Kami-sama that it was time for lunch; everyone was hungry considering how that day had been going.

Naruto walked down the stairs to the cafeteria with Gaara. As they entered the room, which had many windows by the way (it was really bright too), people started to talk. No doubt about him. Once he was in the lunchroom he was unexpectedly invited to sit down with his new friends. Maybe including Neji?

"Oi, Naruto!" Lee called, waving in Naruto's direction, "You want to come eat with us?" He gestured to some empty seats at the round table they were sitting at.

Naruto looked at who was sitting with Lee. Tenten, Neji, those three girls from his classes, Ino, Hinata, Sakura, and...him. Sasuke. It was a hard debate to look at...because of that kid...

Oh no, that wasn't going to work for Gaara. He _never_ sat with anyone else, always by himself. In no way was that going to change now, just because Naruto was here. Mountain, think mount-

Naruto decided. But it had been a hard debate. "Fine! Come on Gaara!" Naruto grabbed the hard concentrating redhead by his arm and dragged him to where Lee and the others were sitting. He'd be alright.

Naruto stuck himself right next to Lee across from Neji sitting next to Sasuke. Gaara unwillingly sat next to Naruto, cussing all the people at the table out in his head. He'd eventually get Naruto for this, but not right now. He didn't like scenes...

"So Naruto, how do you like school here so far?" Ino said, starting a conversation.

They all looked at him except for Sasuke. He looked at Gaara's reaction to this. Nothing.

Naruto saw that everyone wanted a reply, he didn't know what kind of response to say. He crossed his arms, shutting his eyes and making a face like a kid, "I hate it." he said simply.

"You…hate it?" Lee said uncertainly. How could anyone hate this glorious school? Especially with the awesome Gai-sensei here. The greatest person to ever walk the halls of this school.

"S-so, why don't you like i-it?" Hinata asked in her usual timid voice.

"Because, I don't. The only probable reason I would like it is if they have ramen here like Gaara said they would, and me telling that Ebisu man what a perv he is and showing how good of a pianist I am." Naruto said perplexed.

Sakura, Tenten, and Ino sighed. "Well, I guess that makes sense. Ebisu-sensei isn't one of the nicest people we have here. But I don't think he's a pervert." Sakura said.

Naruto looked at Sakura as if she were crazy or something, "You seriously never noticed? Forget perv, the man's probably a pedophile! If it were up to me, he'd be an obituary in the newspaper."

Sakura looked at Ino and Ino looked at Sakura. They both nodded, this boy, even though kind of cute, he wasn't the brightest one... But Hinata and Tenten agreed with him, Ebisu-sensei was a weird one...

_So someone else finally figures it out._ thought Neji, he was impressed at the blonde, because he seemed to be one of those people who caught onto things late. Guess not.

Naruto found that in science that he had to sit right across from Sasuke, at the same freakin' table, and he didn't like it. The worst thing about it was he wasn't sitting anywhere close to Lee or Gaara.

The blonde did his best to ignore the raven looking at him from the corner of his eye every then and again, but the bigger problem was, was he going to be able to deal with this all year? That wasn't very likely. When Naruto wasn't embarrassed or getting there, he had a temper and bad one a that. But he only ever used that in Kawagari where he felt secure using it.

All day, everywhere he went, that was all Sasuke heard, but...the beneficial thing was at least it wasn't him they were talking about. When everyone was walking down to lunch, everyone was talking about the new kid, Uzumaki Naruto.

"Have you seen him?"

"Whoa, he's kinda cute."

"He reminds me of slick fox."

Complements coming from everywhere. At one point he thought he saw a few boys looking at the blonde, and he was sure that a bunch of girls sighing heavily when he passed. This kid must be something' special…

Kiba looked at Naruto paying attention to Asuma sensei. _Hmm, he's blonde, blue eyes, little whisker marks like a fox. _He could try to catch him after school, but there might be a chance that Gaara'd be with him. There was no way in hell that he be caught dead close to _him. Sabaku no Gaara…scary…_

The bell rang. Naruto gathered his stuff and fallowed Gaara to his next class, English...proper English, for whenever they wanted to go to Amerika**, not likely. He wouldn't ever go there...okay, he probably would, just not to visit his relatives.

_

* * *

_

_Uhg._

Naruto didn't like the English teacher, Orochimaru. He was a child molester, or at least he looked like one. He kept giving that kid Sasuke weird looks, looks that only a child molester would give, and Naruto knew these looks only to well. He didn't know if his other classmates noticed, but he did noticed that Neji did. Of course Neji would. Naruto figured he was the kind of boy who saw things others didn't

Naruto wondered, if this was the main teacher, then what would his assistant be like? A more creepier person or a less?

And then the bell rang.

The first thought in Naruto's head was what was training going to be like? What was it? Something like athletics, which meant they had sports. He was a star soccer player at Kawagari. Why did he need it? And then Naruto remembered something that Tenten said about the teacher, he was Lee's idol, and they looked almost exactly alike. His eyebrows must've been the bushiest things in the world...

And after training, which _was _just like athletics (they gave it a different name...)...

Naruto walked down the hall with Gaara, making small talk with him, but not getting much of a response, someone grabbed his shoulder. "You know pal, I've been watching you all day and you've really been bugging me, but the thing is, I also think you're cute."

"Who are you?!" Naruto said, confused out of his mind. It was a boy taller and more buff looking than him. It clicked in his head. Wait- what? did he say he was cute?

"Back off you weirdo!" Naruto's fist flew into the boy's face. Something in the other boy's face cracked. Gaara stood in the back, waiting for Naruto to finish. And also standing by just incase Naruto needed back up.

"Why you little-!" Naruto had broken the other boy's nose. Ouch.

After that, fists were going every where. People were chanting. Naruto squat down and under-tripped the boy, and he landed on his back. Oh yeah, now Naruto was pissed. He was so into it, he didn't feel the adrenalin changing his eyes.

"You know, it's not polite to go and grab people out of the blue!" Naruto stepped hard on the boy's chest, "I oughtta to-" He stopped, he noticed everyone had gotten quiet. They were all staring at him looking a little baffled. He took his foot off and froze in his spot.

Gaara saw this from the back of the crowd, and realized what went wrong. "Come on Naruto." He snatched Naruto from the scene.

"What were you thinking back there?!" Gaara said, his voice was sharp and smooth with anger.

Naruto made a face, what was he so mad about? It's not like he'd never watched him get into a fight with someone in public before. "Aw, gimme a break Gaara, that kid started it, not me!" he pouted.

"That's not what I was talking about. Who cares if you got into a fight. The only reason everyone stopped yelling their heads off like they were a couple of idiots, was because of your eyes, and they're still like that!" Gaara put a tighter grip on Naruto's arm.

Naruto came to comprehension on what Gaara was talking about, "Oh...you don't mean...they turned red…then? But I wasn't that mad, I was just ticked!"

"For you Naruto, that's all it takes! Just getting ticked! You should never use that temper of yours at a private school!" Gaara glared at him, "You and I, we're different, things happen when we get mad, you should know that by now. We're dangerous..."

_Good job, Uzumaki...you've just given yourself and your best friend away...Now the ninth grade's gonna think we're freaks or something..._Naruto dropped his head in shame. What a thing...On the first day of school no less!

Whatta topic it'd be for tomorrow at lunch, "Hey did you see that Naruto kid's eyes? They looked like a demon's..." Now Naruto, and maybe he dragged Gaara into it too, was going to look like an insane bastard...

Feeling completely and utterly ashamed of himself, Naruto slowly trailed after Gaara who didn't say another thing to him for the rest of the day.

Naruto walked down the hall to his apartment. What a bad ending to the day. He unlocked the door and walked in. He threw all his stuff on the couch, as if he cared where he put it right now, and went into the fridge and got some milk. He decided as he drank out of the milk carton, that when Gaara didn't say another word to him, he was alone…again. It was official, he had no friends, on his first day of school, he lost four...

* * *

When Sasuke got home, he checked his answering machine. And as usual he had girls all over it. But one of them wasn't a girl. That one in particular caught his interest.

**You have one unheard message. Last unheard message sent today at 2 p.m.:**

_**Greetings, foolish little brother…**_

Itachi? What did that bastard want?

_**Turns out that I'm going to be an assistant teacher at your school. For who, I do not know, I do know that it will be for ninth grade. Now we can spend some time together. Later.**_

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as that last statement was made. He pressed a button.

**Message erased. End of messages.**

Sasuke'd be damned if he was going to spend any of _his_ time with Itachi. He'd once loved his older brother, once idolized him, wanted to be just like him, but after he left the family without him knowing, he forever and on hated him. It was just that simple. And maybe just that stupid as some (who had the gall) would say.

Another reason he hated him, is when Itachi was around everyone ignored Sasuke and paid all their attention to him. When he was little, it was all about Itachi. Itachi this, and Itachi that. At that time Sasuke didn't mind, but as he got older he did. He always got everything he wanted, anything.

Now he was barging in on Sasuke at school? It was too much, even for an Uchiha. Although, Sasuke was much different that the rest of his illustrious family, he was…rebellious. Uchiha were always tidy and neat, Sasuke was messy and sometimes just downright lazy (of course, he would clean on a weekly basis). _That_ was Sasuke.

_Oh well. _

Sasuke mind drifted back to right after seventh had period ended. That kid…Uzumaki Naruto…his eyes; they reminded him of a demon, a demon fox. At first Sasuke thought the boy as frail and not capable of anything…a dobe. So it did come as a surprise to Sasuke when he saw him fight that other kid _twice_ his size. Emphasis on _the other dude was twice Naruto's size_ and he whopped him like it was nothing. Gai-sensei was going to like this about the kid; he'd taken a shining to Lee, so…yeah.

Sasuke went back to thinking about what he thought about and what he and Neji talked about in fouth period. How someone had got to Mr. Death himself, the most anti-people person around. He talked, that was the most amazing thing about it. Even when a teacher told him to answer a question, he either refused or had the audacity to go up and write it on the board. Everyone thought he was a mute. That kid Naruto _made_ him _talk_.

_That kid must be somethin' special…_

* * *

Chapter six is here in like…20 minutes, I have to finish editing it and  
then it will be postable!

Hoped you like this chapter and I hope you  
Enjoy the next one!


	6. Weekend

**A/N-** I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience of yesterdays promise…I fell asleep, *laughs sheepily* Sorry, but here it is!!! Oh and by the way, could you all do me a favor? Please? Could you go check out my new video on YouTube? I just finished it today. I would love you all! Also, **warning** for this chapter: **Someone is suicidal!**

* * *

Sasuke was sitting in a chair on his balcony thinking about the past week. The best thing that probably happened was Itachi not showing up for his assistant teacher job. Just wishfully thinking that he wouldn't show next week either, whatta miracle that would be...Not like it would happen anyways. But he could hope, you know? He didn't want to see the older Uchiha anytime soon, because he seriously just didn't want to see him...

"That bastard Itachi. Trying to barge in on my school life. Who the hell does he think he is? And what the hell does he want...?" Sasuke said to himself, making a face. It was so annoying that he could _never_ have anything to himself. Nothing ever was ever his, except until _after_ Itachi had moved out..._Then_ his parents paid attention to him. His mother said that father had paid more attention to Itachi for the "well-being" of the clan...

_What a bunch of bullshit..._

For a time after all of those thoughts, it was quiet in Sasuke's head. His mind bounced to different things, everything from the first week of school to all those girls getting on his nerves and then to...Uzu- No, he was trying _not _to think about...him.

There was a knock on the door. Sasuke looked at the door, wondering who would bother him right now. "Who is it?" he called. He waited a few moments. Hopefully it wasn't some girl leaving a love letter or a present or something, he hated that kind of thing, it was really annoying. And the worst part was, they didn't know when it was too much. Sasuke would usually make the more...sensitive ones cry and the more stronger-willed ones angry...

No answer.

Sasuke walked to go and open the door. There stood a tall man with the same shade of skin as Sasuke, wearing a blood red polo shirt, not buttoned up all the way, with dark, almost black, blue-jeans. He had his black hair tied back in a ponytail with his bangs on his face. Uchiha Itachi. Sasuke's older brother.

As soon as Sasuke saw the despicable sight of his older brother, he swung to shut the door. Itachi, having excellent reflexes held the door open with only his hand. Sasuke wasn't nearly as fast or as strong as his brother. But don't get Itachi wrong, his younger brother was quick and strong. And he knew that Sasuke had the potential to be like himself. He just hadn't discovered it because out of most of the Uchiha, Sasuke was the most...stubborn.

Sasuke looked up at Itachi in irritation from under his bangs. He sighed, "Is there something you need Itachi?" he asked. He let his force off of the door. "I'm not in the mood for seeing unsightly things today." He turned with his hands in his pockets.

Itachi looked at Sasuke. He grinned, but it was hardly noticeable. "It's nice to see you too. I didn't get to see my favorite little brother this past week because I was held up in Osaka." Itachi replied sarcastically. The sarcasm was deep and witty, and even though he said it in a normal tone, it was still there. Very useful quality for business.

Hmph, "Don't worry about it. Actually, I was quite pleased that you didn't show up this week at all. It was very lax for me." he replied, swinging a chair to sit in. Sasuke tried to do the same with his voice, but failed spectacularly.

Without any thoughts, Itachi waltzed into Sasuke's apartment as if it were his own. He didn't mind doing it. He grabbed a chair and sat to face Sasuke. "Lovely afternoon." He commented leaning back in his chair, relaxing.

Sasuke glared at the older Uchiha._ The first time I get you off guard, you're so dead._ he thought deviously.

**

* * *

**

Laying on his bed, bored with nothing to do, Naruto heard voices in the next apartment. Someone didn't something...anyways...they past week of school was terrible except for the part where he showed that pervert Ebisu sensei how good of a pianist he was. That day in orchestra, everyone marveled at his song he played. Well almost everyone; there were a few that didn't give a shit to listen to Naruto play his Piano Symphony of the Dancing Leaf. They had _no_ taste in refined music. Bunch of little punks. (Of course he was one to talk... =D)

Yesterday (because today was Saturday), Naruto tried all day to get Gaara talking to him again, but the boy wouldn't budge. _Stupid rock... _Well the good thing was, at least Tenten and Lee were still talking. They didn't seem to mind that Naruto was a psycho person. Neji didn't either, but he didn't talk at the table in general so it didn't really matter.

On Wednesday, Naruto met Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru. He knew already he could never relate to Shino, there was something about him, his attitude, the way he acted...weirdo. Chouji loved to eat, that was obvious. That was a person Naruto could definitely get along with. Shikamaru too, he was pretty cool and really laid back. He told Naruto never to call Chouji fat unless he didn't want his saneness anymore...

Naruto had finally learned that little bastard's name, Inuzuka Kiba. And there was no way in hell he would soon forget it. He was going to get that punk and teach him a lesson in the way of respect for the Almighty Uzumaki. He was so annoying when they met. And that mutt of his, _what was his name?_ Oh yeah Akamaru. Wouldn't shut his barking and growling once. Chouji told Naruto that a long time ago he tried to eat Akamaru, but Kiba acted like damn the thing was his own son. Yeah, and he was always wild and loud, and he even acted like a damn mutt too! He tried to _lick_ Naruto!_ Whatta nasty little punk..._

Naruto scowled at his ceiling, he hated that kid! _Ugh...I don't even wanna think about it anymore_. He didn't, it made his head hurt. He wasn't used to thinking that much. The person that usually did all the thinking was_...Gaara..._Naruto shook his head really fast, he wasn't thinking about...him right now.

He turned on his side. He was concentrating on trying to hear nothing, but now that he was, he heard yelling from the next apartment. Kami-sama, who the hell was the idiot yelling? (Not that he was one to talk...)

"I don't feel like seeing you right now, go away!" someone said. Whoever it was, they didn't sound very happy...Wait a moment, Naruto recognized that voice. He left his apartment to go see if he was right.

**

* * *

**

Sasuke didn't want to think of Itachi now, he didn't want to hear from Itachi, he didn't even want to see Itachi. The problem was, he was to busy for all of that, having a staring down contest with...Itachi. And _Itachi_ was _winning_. Shit. Ten minutes into the thing, (they both could keep their eyes open for a very long time) there was a knock on the door.

Neither of them looked away from each other, but Itachi was the one that answered the kncok. "Yes, who is it?" he called as if it were his place, which didn't make Sasuke very happy. Controlling bastard...

At first there was no answer, but then, "It's me...Naruto." At the sound of his name, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat.

Itachi grinned slightly, but Sasuke didn't notice. "Come in."

From the outside, Naruto slowly turned the knob and walked in. There was Sasuke, sitting at a table with a man that looked about eighteen or so. Red polo shirt, hair pulled back, all his features visible on his young face. Naruto reluctantly thought this was the hottest dude he'd ever seen. But he was so familiar, did he…know him?

Itachi looked at the blonde boy. Golden sun, baby-fine hair, cerulean eyes, honey-tanned skin, lean body. His favorite color orange that was his T-shirt, light and worn out jeans, black wrist band. From the last time he saw him, Uzumaki Naruto didn't change at all, except for the part that he grew up. As if it was a surprise anyways. But it had been quite a while.

Naruto stopped and at first, he didn't know what to say. He cleared his throat, gathering his thoughts. "Err…hey Sasuke, I uh, thought I heard you yelling from here...err- is everything alright?" Naruto asked not breaking eye-contact with Itachi. Who was that man?

Sasuke looked at Naruto noticing he wasn't breaking his eye contact with him. He thought quickly.

"No, everything's fine. You can go." he said in a suddenly cold voice.

Naruto looked at Sasuke with an expression that was irritated, and glared, "Whatever teme…" he opened the door again, looked one last time at Itachi, then left.

Itachi watched the blonde boy leave, "So Sasuke, who's your cute friend?" he said still looking at the door. But as if he didn't know.

Sasuke scoffed at the older Uchiha, "Why, it's not like he's your type any ways." he responded, glaring at him. That was something, something that would never be his.

"Just asking." he replied, looking nonchalantly at the younger Uchiha. What an over reaction.

Yeah right. Uchiha Itachi never "just asked" anything. Sasuke knew how his mind worked, or he thought he did pretty well. Besides, the way those two made eye-contact, Sasuke knew they must've known each other. How, he didn't know, but they _did_ know each other one way or another. And he was going to try to find out, not that he had to, he was just curious.

Itachi got up, fixing his shirt, "Well little brother, I enjoyed our little chat. We must do it again sometime. If I don't drop by tomorrow, then I'll see you at school on Monday." he opened the door, stalled for a moment, thinking of something, then left.

Sasuke glared after his brother. Like he'd ever want him to stop by again. For some stupid reason, Sasuke was mad. He should never let that bastard Itachi make him mad, but despite that, he was. He got off his chair, went to his room, and slammed his bedroom door closed.

**

* * *

**

Back in his own apartment, Naruto heard a door slam. Probably that Sasuke-teme. What a jackass he was. Was it because there someone else with him? Or...was he always like that? _You can go._ Who did he think he was, his dad or something? He saw what Sasuke was really like, what his true colors were, cold, hateful, and…cold. Was it Naruto's fault if he was curious on what was going on at his neighbors apartment? No, it wasn't. Sasuke could kiss Naruto's perfectly tanned ass.

Off that. Naruto walked into the kitchen. He thought about the man that was with Sasuke-teme...something about him was...familiar, maybe? _That man, I know I know him from somewhere. He's a face from a long time ago, sometime back in Kawagari. _They must've met there somewhere, because his face was too familiar to be coincidence. Well...if Naruto never saw him again then it would be one. But still...

He drank out of a bottle of water, it wasn't until he did that he realize he was really thirsty. He drank a little bit more and then put it back.

A cold chill descended down Naruto's back. He stopped immediately, that wasn't a good sign...it meant someone was about to commit suicide. Who? It was six o'clock. _Who, where, and why? Why. Why would anyone ever...? _Even if Naruto was no stranger to it, or death for that matter, there should never be a good enough reason to take your own life.

Ever since Naruto was little, anytime he got a chill, someone close to him (distance wise) in the city or town he was in, was about to commit suicide, or someone was about to die. There was no explanation to it, why he got the chills. It was just a thing he had._Where. If I can find them, I could do something about it. I can stop them! _To save a human life pain, when no one did that for him, was his motivation. He had to hurry, there was no time to waste...

No other thoughts in his mind, Naruto grabbed his keys and dashed out the door.

**

* * *

**

Sasuke was sitting outside looking up at the blue sky. His day, maybe his whole week was ruined, thanks to Itachi. That bastard knew how to ruin something good, anything, his..._favorite toy..._even though it was a long time ago and it _was_ an accident...still it was his favorite toy! And that bastard ruined it...!

Sasuke looked to his right, someone was coming, coming fast. Who was that? They were in a hurry, he guessed.

The next thing he knew, a blur of orange, blue, and yellow passed him. His hair flew off to the right. What was that dobe doing? Something big must be happening close by. Well...he didn't care, but he hoped everything was alright...

Not that he cared or anything...

**

* * *

**

It couldn't be...it was Gaara. Gaara was trying to commit suicide. It hit Naruto hard...He ran up the stairs to Gaara's place, the closer he got the colder the chill. What was Gaara thinking? Was something wrong, or did something go wrong? But Gaara wasn't that kind of person...but he had tried before, but that was different. It was understandable. Here, in a better place, it shouldn't ever be tried...

Naruto had the key to Gaara's apartment. He stuck it in and turned it to open the door and looked around, no one. Naruto ran to Gaara's door and put his ear to it, and he could hear soft movement from the inside. He tried the knob, no good. The only thought in Naruto's head was, _What the hell are you thinking Gaara?!_Naruto gave up on trying to open the door regularly, _Well I guess I'm just going to have to use force…_he slammed his whole body against the door, no budge. He did it again, again, and again. The door cracked, that was it.

Naruto stood still for a moment concentrating all of his strength into his left side. _This is it Gaara._ he threw himself at the door and knocked it down. And there was Gaara, standing on a stool with a noose around his neck.

"Oh no you don't Gaara!" Naruto exclaimed in a fierce voice. Gaara wasn't going now. Not right now, not any time soon.

Gaara quickly reacted by kicking over his stool, but Naruto was quicker than that. Gaara was supposed to be long gone by now, but he wasn't, why was that? He looked down and there was Naruto right under him, still holding him up. With his free hand, Naruto reached into his pocket, brought out his knife, and threw it at the rope. It split it in half and Naruto let Gaara fall back, hard.

Naruto stood up, not facing Gaara, "Gaara, just what were...YOU THINKING, HUH?" he yelled at the top of his lungs, wheeling to face his suicidal friend. "I KNOW YOU WEREN'T JUST ABOUT TO LEAVE ME ALONE AGAIN WERE YOU?" He threw his fists down to his sides and stared Gaara strait in the eye.

Gaara was loosening up the rope on his neck. Failure had reached him.

"NO, NOT AGAIN, YOU WERE _NOT _ABOUT TO GO AND _LEAVE _ME ALONE! AFTER YOU, TEMARI, AND KANKURO LEFT, KOHONA WAS THE _ONLY _THING I HAD LEFT! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH IT KILLED ME, DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW MUCH THAT HURT? AND HERE YOU ARE, BEING A _FUCKING IDIOT _AND TRYING TO HANG YOURSELF! WHAT THE _HELL _IS YOUR PROBLEM?!" Reluctant tears started to fill Naruto's eyes.

Gaara said nothing, but looked at his infuriated and anguishing friend. What _was_ his problem? Why had he done that for? He didn't know. He forgot. But it was probably stupid and idiotic. Now he would have to deal with his punishment…

"Damn it Gaara...I thought I could depend on you, you're my best friend. I thought-that I was a good enough reason for you to keep on it with your life…no matter where we were. You-and your brother-and sister too, you guys took care of us when all those other people just wanted to hurt us. And-and I-I thought…" Naruto glared at him, he wasn't happy at all, "Gaara you had your right to be mad at me for at least two days," Tears streamed down his eyes, and Gaara still said nothing.

"Two days, but now…I have the right to be mad at you for a life time. How could you?" Naruto grabbed his pocket knife, looked at Gaara one last time then left. It didn't slam.

* * *

Sasuke was curious about that look on the blonde's face, it was worried. But what about, he didn't know. But he guessed something must've happened somewhere.

Hearing footsteps, Sasuke looked to his left. Someone was coming again. It was Naruto, but this time he wasn't running, he walked with his head hanging, or just looking at the ground. He passed Sasuke, not even looking slightly at him. His face was soaked and red with fresh, hot tears. Then something _did_ happen, but he didn't know what.

A few meters later and, "Is there anything you need? Do you want something?" Naruto's voice was cold and harsh, nothing like Sasuke'd heard it before. Then Naruto was quiet, thinking about whether he should keep it or not. Then it was decided, he wouldn't keep it. Just incase... "Here…keep this, I don't care was you do with it…I just don't want to try the same thing…" Naruto pulled out his pocket knife, still not looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Naruto holding the pocket knife, "What do you want me to do with it?" he asked, but Naruto didn't answer. He tossed the pocket knife and Sasuke caught it. It was nice, hand crafted, polished. The blade itself must have been sharp as it was smooth. "Hn."

"Is that supposed to mean something?" Naruto said with his back still turned. "Look, just take the fucking thing…I-I don't want it…" He clenched his fist. "Please…I don't-" But his voice cracked. More tears streamed down his face as he clutched at his chest.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, his voiced cracked, he was crying again. He looked back down at the knife. He'd put it up somewhere, safe. He watched as Naruto walked off, not saying anything else, as if their conversation never happened. It started to rain.

Naruto walked off, not saying anything else to Sasuke. His head hurt and all he wanted to do was fall asleep. The rain started to pour as Sasuke disappeared behind him.

* * *

Sasuke put a towel on his head, drying out his hair. Huh, why was that dobe crying in the first place? The first time, he was in a hurry, he looked like he absolutely needed to get where he was going. But when he was coming back…he looked terrible. As if something bad happened. Also, Sasuke noticed that he was going and coming to and from the direction of Gaara's apartment. Maybe he had something to do with it…

But it wasn't like Sasuke cared about what happened to that idiot, loudmouth, blonde's feelings anyways. As if it mattered to him. Remember, the Uchiha didn't care about anyone or anything. And even though Sasuke was different from the rest of his family, rebellious, he was on exception to that Uchiha rule. _So you're trying to make yourself not care, right? _A little voice said from the back of his head. The first time in forever since Sasuke'd heard it.

It startled answered aloud, "No, I don't care."

The voice laughed, _Are you sure about that? You really don't?_

Sasuke glared at nothing, "No, I don't! Do try me you little-!" He stopped, he'd just realized he was talking to no one. What was he doing, acting like a nut…Good thing no one had heard him…

So instead, Sasuke battled himself within his head. That was the solution, not that it made him anymore sane mentally, but it helped physically, as long as he didn't make faces. Yes that was Uchiha Sasuke. Rebellious, even against himself.

And now, all he had to do was wait for Monday…

* * *

So, did you like it? I hope you did.  
I thought this was one of the better chapters of the story…  
Oh and about that video, enjoy and leave a comment!  
(And a review for this story!!)

Here's the video: .com/watch?v=BNv957F7cm4  
(sorry it wouldn't let me make a hyperlink...)


	7. Realizing

**A/N- **Ok, I'm really sorry for the long wait, (not that this gets many viewers anyways). But for those who do happen to come across it, here it is. Today was the last day of school, I was really busy and all (pretty much just swimming for the summer~!) But besides all that, I will have this...at least one chapter up every week. Thank you.

* * *

A coincidence. Uhh…yeah-no. Naruto did see that man again. And he was going to see him everyday for the rest of the year. But it wasn't like it was a bad thing, he just felt it was a little awkward. He didn't know this dude at all, but he felt he was someone from the past. And Naruto kind of figured the dude knew him.

Anyways, all of that aside…why was it that he was going to be seeing him everyday for the rest of the year? Because, he's Jiraiya sensei's assistant teacher for history. That's why. And what a year it was going to be…

Naruto thought about what happened earlier in class.

**-Flashback-**

Jiraiya got out of his desk as there was a knock on the class room door. Everyone watched him open it, "Oh, good. You decided to turn up this time." The class thought they heard another person, a man, murmur something smart that made Jiraiya say, "Very funny."

Jiraiya walked back into the classroom, another man with him. Naruto immediately recognized him as the man that he'd seen Saturday at Sasuke's apartment. Jiraiya turned to face his students, "Alright people because of a small delay, my assistant was held up. But he's here today." he explained.

Everyone noticed that the man next to him was absolutely still, and hadn't made a single move yet. To some of them, it was disturbing, to others, mysterious. But of course, to all the girls, they thought he was the most handsome, no that wasn't the right word, he was the most hottest thing they'd ever seen…next to Sasuke of course.

And Sasuke wished they thought that Itachi was the only hottest thing they masturbated about. Because he definitely knew that there were some girls around his school that were just that obsessive and nasty to do that. And it should be to the thought of Itachi, the bastard, and not Sasuke himself.

Naruto looked down at his empty desktop, turning, slightly red. _Oh yeah it's no coincidence, I do know this man_. he thought_. And now I'm going to get to know him better... _He didn't know if this would be a good thing or a bad thing.

Jiraiya motioned the class to fallow his hand to set their eyes once again on the man. "Class, I'd like you to meet my assistant, Uchiha Itachi." he introduced.

In the mid of a quiet murmur, everyone heard a pencil snap from pressure that sounded like it'd been there since Itachi walked into the class.

Itachi looked around the room, first spotting his little brother (which he slightly smirked at), then he looked around, spotting Naruto. "I hope that we can all get along well this year." he said, making an unbreakable eye contact with Naruto. He struggled really hard to break it, and with almost impossible success, he did.

Jiraiya looked around the classroom, clearly seeing that it was going to be the girls that were going to pay attention the most in class now. He looked particularly at Naruto. Of course every teacher knew about his relations and his past. But Jiraiya wondered how he was going to act in class now. "Alright people, Itachi is a sensei just as much as I am. So I want all of you to treat him the same as you would treat me -don't be a smartass Mokuba- especially when I'm not here." he explained.

So as the class went on, Naruto was having a tough time. Not just because of Itachi, but because he was avoiding another almost-unbreakable-eye-contact with him. Then there was the others. He avoided the eyes of Sasuke. And Gaara, and Kiba. If this kept on, Naruto would snap under the pressure, he just knew it…

**-End Flashback-**

And that's how it happened.

* * *

Gaara walked down the hall, alone. His hands were in his pockets and his earphones were in his ear playing some song by High and Mighty Color. He'd had a lot to think about since Saturday's almost unfortunate event. Gaara may have been a cold bastard to a lot of people, but to Naruto…he was _never_ ever supposed to be one of those people. He had a lot to thank him for and Naruto was the reason he was still alive after many incidents and many shootings.

Even though he rarely showed it, he had a lot of gratitude towards Naruto, and some towards Kohona as well. But Naruto, he was the main reason Gaara still didn't kill people just for the hell of it. Yes, he made that stop a long time ago. It'd been unhealthy and insane, not to mention dangerous for his family.** (Of course at the time, Gaara was insane XD)

"Tch…" Gaara pierced his lips together, resisting the strong urge to go and break something. The more he thought about it, the stupider it became to him. At this point, he didn't even know why he'd done it. It was something about the past…something that'd popped into his head. It became a short movie…and then Gaara snapped, he grabbed a chair and threw it at the wall. As soon as he'd done that, he went to end his life. But he wasn't fast enough…

Naruto had saved him. Again.

The more he thought about it, the more he actually realized…Naruto was actually_… The only friend I ever had_. And there was so much truth to this fact. Kohona was up there but no where close to Naruto's ranking. Naruto saved him from himself. And now the only thing Gaara ever

cared about…was lost. And maybe this time, forever.

* * *

Naruto was on his way to the orchestra room to put his stuff down. Ever since Saturday, a lot had been on his mind. He loosened his tie and fixed his collar slightly. His iPod was in his pocket and was playing some song by Orange Range…

He'd…Naruto had never felt so lost, but without Gaara, he was. Gaara was like his other part, as if they shared the same soul. They'd been through countless things together, forget that…they'd _murdered_ countless people together, just to be alive at this point. Naruto kept Gaara in check and Gaara kept Naruto in check.

Like brothers.

Naruto was abruptly interrupted from his bonding thoughts when one of his earphones was pulled out of his ear. He stopped to turn to see who'd done it. And much to his distaste, he saw it was the freaking dog lover Inuzuka Kiba. He was so freaking annoying! He hated that guy!

Kiba pulled Naruto's earphone out of his ear. He heard that Naruto was listening to Shanghai Honey by Orange Range. Good choice of music. Kiba liked that, (and the song too.) He'd expected to find Naruto somewhere around the halls, he'd said he would and Shino was skeptical. Well, he showed him. "Hey Naruto. How're you? Didn't expect to see you hanging around the halls. And by yourself no less." he lied. Yeah right. He did. And he knew somewhere close by, Shino was watching.

Kiba wanted to get to know Naruto a little better. After the first day of school, he found that this one was witty, and knew how to get a good comeback. Kiba really liked that. And liked him. Of course everyone at the school knew he was bi, and the coolest thing was, no one cared. Not even his best friends. (And why would they? They were his best friends after all and they should always be the first ones to not care.)

Inside his head, Naruto rolled his eyes. He knew that Doggy Boy had been looking for him. He'd been avoiding him. And he was doing a pretty good job, up until now. "Yeah, whatta coincidence, huh? I really wasn't expecting to see you either." _Not that I even wanted to Doggy Boy._ he thought. Naruto was just going to have to shake the kid off, now wasn't he?

Sighing, Naruto continued to walk down the hall in the manner he was before. For a moment, Kiba watched him, starting to grin. He fallowed. Kiba wasn't about to let this one slip through his finger, he was too good a catch.

Kiba was now walking by Naruto's side, him now listening to "Thank You!!" by H.M.K.U. (HomeMade 家族 [Kazoku] For those who don't know). He decided to bring up what he most recently heard about Death. "So Naruto, I've been hearing some stuff about you and your friend." he said a little provocatively. He wanted to see the reaction.

Naruto twitched slightly, trying to pretend he hadn't heard what Kiba said. But he couldn't. "Oh really? And what kind of…_stuff _have you been hearing from these other people about me and my best friend?" Great, it was only Wednesday, and already people were figuring stuff out.

"Well," Kiba put his finger to his nose, grinning, "I've heard that you and Gaara had a little row on Saturday. Now you tow aren't talking, am I right?" he said.

That set Naruto off. _That_ was none of anyone's business. "It's none of your business and it has _nothing _to do with you or anyone else! You tell whoever's gossiping about that to keep their fucking mouths shut other wise I'll do it for them! I don't want to hear it again for the rest of the day!" he yelled. The last part of it echoed down the long hall. Angrily, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, now listening to another song. He walked off.

Kiba stared after him, starting to laugh to himself. "Woo, he's a hot-headed little one ain't he?"

* * *

In another part of the school, Sasuke was walking down a hallway, silently fuming over Itachi, _Bastard brother, fucking bastard, nosey...bastard. _The younger Uchiha could think up a million bastard-compounds, and all for the _bastard_ he called a brother.

Passing by some rooms and then a bathroom, Sasuke swore he'd heard someone sobbing from the boy's room. He wondered why. The sobbing became louder as he got closer. He opened the door, "Err…hello?" he said unsurely as he walked in, "Is anyone in here?" But then the sobbing just then immediately stopped. Right on cue of Sasuke's voice.

Taking his time and walking down the way in front of the sinks, he started to open the stalls. The first one was empty, so was the second one, and the third one, the forth, fifth and sixth…(wow pretty big bathroom huh?) Finally he checked the seventh one and he found…nothing. There was no one in the bathroom that had been sobbing. There was no one in the bathroom all.

Quickly he left, _Who was that? _he thought to himself. It sounded real, Sasuke knew he just couldn't have been imagining it, unless he was going insane or something, and there wasn't any kind of storage room. And who would hide under the sinks? He stood in front of the water fountains thinking of what he may or may not've heard. Then, only moments later, Naruto walked out of the boy's bathroom, his face just splashed with water and dried.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, really, very surprised. Then he wasn't insane, but…_That's impossible! When I checked all seven of those stalls he was no where in there…The was _no one_ in there… _he thought. What did that kid do not to get seen? There was no way he could climb and stick to the roof like freaking Spiderman

Naruto looked at Sasuke standing in front of the water fountains with a weird and surprised look on his face.

Whoops, "Uhh, hey Sasuke. Is um…something the matter?" the blonde asked as of he didn't already know. He was just going to play it off innocent, Naruto wasn't really the type of person to let people see or hear him cry. He hated it when people felt bad for him, because then they would start to baby him and treat him like a completely different person. And that, that was annoying.

"No, why? I just figured there wasn't anyone in there." he replied, slipping out of his surprise.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at Sasuke, "In where?"

Yeah, right, Uchiha knew the kid was bluffing now. "Alright seriously, quit acting like that urasutonkachi."

Naruto was confused. "Urasutonkachi?"

"Yeah."

"Hmph, teme." But Naruto clutched at his chest, _This is kinda weird…this feeling I'm getting._ he thought.

"You know what, just forget it you dobe."

"Oh, you have another name for me? Jeez, aren't you people rich are already enough alike?"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke glared at him.

Naruto glared back, "Go away."

"Not until you tell me."

"Nope."

And somehow, out of no where, "So Sasuke, who's your little friend, I believe we weren't properly introduced the other day." Itachi popped up.

Naruto flinched, _Itachi-sensei…_

"What do you want?" Sasuke snapped.

"To meet one of my little brother's little friends." Itachi said innocently, looking at Naruto.

Naruto looked curiously at the two, what Itachi said, clicking into his heads "Wait- you two are… brothers?" No wonder they looked so alike. Naruto just thought it was by chance.

_Still_ looking at Naruto, Itachi nodded. He couldn't really say he was so surprised that Naruto didn't realize the two were brothers. He was never really the perceptive kind. "So Sasuke?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, sighing. He would get Itachi back for this, it would just take some time. Itachi would pay. "…Naruto, this is my…" He didn't really want to say it, "…older brother Uchiha Itachi. And…Itachi this is a friend of mine, Uzumaki Naruto." he said, finishing finally.

Naruto looked confused at what Sasuke just said. _A…friend?_ he thought.

Itachi held out his hand to shake, and for a moment all Naruto did was look at it. Then after a few moments, Naruto shook it hesitatingly.

"Nice to see you again, Naruto-kun." Itachi smiled.

At first neither Sasuke or Naruto had a comment to say. But then the words sank into both of their heads. Sasuke flinched and Naruto turned red. What did he mean exactly by…"again"?

…_Again? What's that supposed to mean? _Sasuke thought, really surprised at what his aniki said.

Face still as red as ever, Naruto quickly pulled his hand away, his hard exterior that he'd had earlier with Kiba and partly with Sasuke had disappeared, "I'm very sorry Itachi-sensei, but…I don't think I've ever met you before…" So it was true, he had met him before, even thought he'd just denied it. _I do know this man…_

Itachi didn't grin, but he smiled. Sasuke hadn't seen Itachi smile since they were kids. "Frankly, I'm not surprised you don't remember, it was quite a long time ago." And that was the truth, it'd been at least five or six years since he'd seen the little blonde.

"Yeah…I-I guess so…" Naruto had to get himself out of this situation, he had to go. "So I guess, I guess I'll see you in orchestra Sasuke. Umm, I'll see you tomorrow morning, Itachi-sensei." He slightly bowed his head at the two Uchiha, wheeling around, and quickly walking off.

At first Sasuke just watched as Naruto quickly walked off, obviously embarrassed. Then he glared at Itachi, "What's _again_ supposed to mean? Are you trying to freak the kid out?" he asked irritated.

"As if I'd get anything from freaking poor little Naruto-kun out. And even if I told you now, it really wouldn't matter, you wouldn't understand." Itachi replied. "You'll just have to wait and see. It'll come." And then as if Itachi never spoke to Sasuke and Naruto in the first place, he walked off.

Sasuke stood alone in the hallway.

* * *

Orchestra slurred on into reading as Naruto thought of Itachi. And Kurenai-sensei helped, because all she did was talk about some book, Naruto thought is was called "And Then There Was None" a.k.a, "Ten Little Indians". She said they were starting it next week. But pretty much that was the only thing he caught out of the whole period. That and something about a news article.

Naruto sighed as he drew a picture of something random on a piece of paper. He wasn't even paying attention to what it was. He looked over at Sasuke from the corner of his eye, thinking of Itachi, _Then I must know this man, it'd be wrong if I didn't…he obviously knows me. But how? It must have been when I was a kid, because he said it was when I was young._

Kurenai sighed as she looked at Naruto in the desk against a the wall, "Uzumaki-san, would you _please _pay attention. We can't have you blanking out in class all the time." she said, chiding him.

Everyone looked at Naruto.

He looked around, "Uhh, right, sorry Kurenai-sensei, I was...thinking about something." He sat up right.

Of course, Sasuke knew exactly what Naruto was thinking about, _Itachi_. Sasuke was going to find out what their relationship was and get information out of Itachi if it killed him or not. He was curious. But Sasuke didn't know if Itachi had said something about him telling him that he'd already told him about this. (confusing? sorry XD)

"Next Thursday, we are going to be discussing a news paper article from nine years ago." Kurenai explained. "After that, you will write a page essay on what you thought of it." The class groaned. Great, more work…

The bell rang, "Ok you're dismissed for lunch."

Naruto rose from his seat, being the last one to leave the classroom. Laying on his desk was a drawing, the pencil was next to it. The lights turned off. The drawing was of Gaara and Naruto when they were kids. In the background was blood on a broken brick wall and a man that looked like Itachi.

* * *

At lunch, Naruto sat alone. He didn't feel like talking to anyone or eating, right now, and that was rare. The table he sat at was against a pale green wall, almost in the corner of the room. His head was laid down on the cool tables surface, and his eyes were closed.

Chouji looked at Naruto between bites of his orange chicken, which was really tasty today. Then he looked at Shikamaru with a frown. "Hey Shikamaru, do you think we should go sit with him? He looks kinda lonely." he said uncertainly.

Kiba found amusement in this for some reason. "Wow Chouji, to think you cared that much to stop eating and say something." he howled with laughter. Although Chouji was right, Naruto didn't look to well. And he knew it wasn't because of what he said, because Naruto was angry when he talked about the row with Gaara, now he just looked sad.

"Leave him alone. He'll be fine." The three of them looked at Shino. "If we treated everyone like a little kid, we'd still be in kindergarten." Shino, the wise one. When he said something, usually it was right, true, and best to listen to.

Elsewhere in the lunchroom, Gaara was also sitting alone, but he was actually thinking unlike his blonde counterpart. He didn't know if he should just keep a low profile from him right now, or go and apologize for the idiotic thing he'd done. Because, yes, he knew it was idiotic. And he knew there was no right way to apologize for something like that. But he decided to try anyways. Even stoic Gaara had a heart somewhere.

Naruto still had his head laying on the table, but now his eyes were opened. All around him he heard everyone buzzing with talk and people were laughing with their best friends about something that had happened over the weekend. He wished he could have been laughing too, but nothing good had happened to laugh about with his best friend. Which he wasn't currently talking too right now.

He looked sideways at the table's surface when a shadow appeared upon it. At first he didn't move, who was bothering him now? Then the person talked.

"Hey." he said. And Naruto looked up into the jade green eyes of Gaara. The best friend he wasn't talking to. Naruto didn't say anything, he just stared blankly at Gaara as if he was someone he just didn't know. He laid his head back on the table's surface which was warm from his body heat.

"You gotta tell me," he started softly, "you gotta tell me why. Why would you do that? What did you have to gain from it? Nothing." he said. "But I do know one reason you didn't do it. You can't hate your life that much. Not even you Sabaku no Gaara, could hate your life _so much_, you'd try to take it away. That's just stupid." Then he felt his eyes start to fill with tears.

Gaara didn't say anything. He took a seat on the other side of the table, across from Naruto.

Naruto let out a kind of fake laugh, "Y'know…thought I could always trust you to always be there for me. The funny part is, you even promised me you would." he said. He didn't pick up his head, it hurt too much. "Every time…that thing happened, you were always there to comfort me." And the tears spilled.

Gaara gave a slight twitch, he couldn't have Naruto cry in front of all these people, it would cause a scene. _Oh shit…please don't cry Naruto. Don't cause a scene here. Not in front of all these people. _he thought, trying to figure out what to do. "Naruto, don't cry. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to."

Wait a second…The whole cafeteria went quiet. They couldn't believe it, did their ears deceive them? Did Mt. Gaara…just say he was sorry? To another student?

No. Way.

And even though he didn't say it that loud, the _whole _cafeteria heard him.

At first, neither Naruto or Gaara noticed that they were surrounded by silence and pairs of eyes among eyes looking at them. They just both stared at each other for a long time, what seemed like forever to the rest of the students waiting for some kind of response from Naruto on Gaara's never-in-this-lifetime-thought-to-be-heard apology.

Naruto looked around as response to the silence. Everyone was looking at him and Gaara. At first, he didn't do anything, after a moment of decision, he got up. Walking around the table, he was careful not to make contact with any of the students. Especially Sasuke. He grabbed Gaara's arm, "Not another word until we are out of hearing range of all these kids, I don't want to hear it." he said sternly, but quietly. Gaara had never heard Naruto have such an…authorized tone in his voice. It was startling.

They walked.

And quietly, everyone watched as Naruto dragged Gaara out of the cafeteria. That was interesting. Sasuke even more intently than anyone else. And he didn't know why.

As soon as the two were gone, the cafeteria broke out into conversation. About what had just happened of course. Everyone had their own theories, some ranging from childhood to most recently, the weekend. No one knew what was going on, but there were going to pretend like they did.

"I told you he could handle himself, just leave him alone." Shino said. And he resumed eating his lunch.

* * *

They were in the bathroom now. They'd been there for a while, and it was spent in complete silence. Gaara kept wondering what Naruto was going to say to him, if he was going to say anything to him at all. He didn't know how long the silence could keep up, she he decided to break it first.

"Listen Naruto-" Gaara started. But Naruto cut him off.

"Seriously Gaara, do you know how stupid that was?" he asked. Of course it was rhetorical, but Gaara knew that. "No, of course you don't, otherwise you wouldn't of done it in the first place. But this time you decided to be just that dumb." Naruto said with his back turned to him. His face was paler and his eyes were darker. You'd have to do a double-take just to know it was him.

Naruto wasn't one to throw stuff back in people's faces but this time, he had to. "You remember the promise that you and I made when we were kids?" he said. "You'd always be there for me and I'd always be there for you. Our promise, it's the promise of a lifetime. And over something so stupid, you were ready break that promise. You were gonna stop being there for me, and if that happened," Naruto took a breath, "…who was I going to be there for? No one."

Gaara listened. He knew everything Naruto was saying was true. The had made a promise, but it was a long time ago. Still, a promise is a promise, no matter how much time passes. And he knew that. And he knew that Naruto knew that he knew that. A truth to no end. He planned to keep that promise, and he…partially vowed that he would try to never do something like that to Naruto again. How long would that stay?

Naruto took another deep breath, "At this point I really don't know how mad I am at you, I'm really confused...I haven't made up my mind yet." he finally said decisively. Gaara looked up, "But it's going to take some time for me to get over this whole fiasco. Gimme a few days, let me think it over and I'll decide something, and I'll be good." Naruto left Gaara in the bathroom.

* * *

The rest of the day seemed to fall into itself.

Naruto was walking home sweating, "Ugh, stupid Gai-sensei making us run five miles, always talking about the 'power of youth'. He can be really annoying." he said to himself. Naruto stopped and looked at the sky, _On another note, that day is coming. I hope no one knows about it…I really hate that day._

Naruto really hated his birthday, it held awful memories for him. That was the day his father died of cancer, a year later on that same day his mom abandoned him at an orphanage and he later found out she killed herself. And when he was six, some one decided to celebrate his birthday by having him raped. He didn't know whether it was coincidence or not, but his birthday was always the worst.

_Stupid day, I wish it would go away and leave me the hell alone._

* * *

**Naruto: **This is great, huh Gaara?  
**Gaara:** ...  
**Naruto:** Gaara?  
**Gaara:** ...  
**Naruto:** Gaara!  
**Sasuke:** He's not going to answer.  
**Gaara:** -glares at Sasuke- Yes, Naruto?  
**Sasuke:** -glares back- Now the jerk answers...  
**Naruto:** Alright you guys...  
**Heartless: **Aww, isn't that cute? A little love triangle~!  
**All three of them:** Shut up!


	8. Secret

**A/N **Hiya everyone~!! I am so terribly sorry that this took so long for me to update. I've been busy with music, other stories, trying not to get my account deleted from YouTube, running away from the plot bunnies, saying Souka every other word, and fixing files, making copies of them, cutting them up, and putting them in videos. *deeeeeeep breath* So as you see I've had a lot on my plate. But here it is, The eighth chapter of It's High School. Ennnnnnnnnnjoy~!!

* * *

Naruto sat in orchestra waiting to practice his part in the music from the score. It was good for him that he did play the piano, especially on a day like today, because his back was to everyone. He really didn't feel like looking at anyone today. It wasn't like he was angry or anything, he just…He needed his space. If, on a day like today, he didn't have his space, he would feel like he was suffocating in his own atmosphere.

Even though he did make up with Gaara, it didn't mean that he was talking to him. Naruto still needed time to cope with the whole thing. Gaara, on the other hand, was ready to restart the relationship, but patient like always and waited for a response. He didn't need to push Naruto over the edge anymore than he already had.

Naruto didn't hate Gaara, he could never. But right now, he was still…lost. He was definitely glad that he didn't let Gaara die, because- "Naruto," -without him, Naruto was empty, he would have lost all reason to- "Naruto," -live. He knew after Gaara was gone, he would have never found another reason-

"Naruto!" Naruto turned around to see Ebisu looking somewhat irritated at him. "Will you _pay_ attention?" he snapped.

Naruto bit his lip a little too hard. How long had the perv been spatting his name? Well, long enough to have everyone looking at him curiously and annoyed. At this, Naruto kinda laughed in his head, he did have a knack for not paying attention when needed. "Yes, sensei?" he responded smartly, "Is there something you need, sensei?" Oh yeah, he forgot to mention he had a knack for being the number one smartass as well.

"Have you been practicing like I told you a thousand times?" Ebisu nagged. What a selfish, insolent, little bug.

"Yes sensei," Naruto said innocently and sarcastically at the same time, "I have been practicing."

"Well then, 'Master of the Ivory Keys', show me what you've gotten so far." he demanded, fixing his shades.

Naruto took a breath. But right before he could begin to play, the dismissal bell rang. Despite his mostly glum mood all day, this seemed to lighten his spirits slightly. Naruto burst out laughing. Loud. Everyone looked at him, either surprised, annoyed, or shocked. Sasuke seemed to find amusement out of this.

In their class room, teaching a new equation to their students, all the way across the school, Iruka and Kakashi looked at each other, knowing who the ringing laugh belong to.

Naruto was the first out of the orchestra room even after his little fit.

* * *

And surprisingly enough, Naruto was the first person in Kurenai-sensei's class, everyone else had gone somewhere else. Only moments after he had sat down, Sasuke walked in, not making any kind of eye-contact with Naruto, and sat down. Naruto remembered the little conversation he, Sasuke, and Itachi-sensei had the other day. It was awkward.

It seemed to never fail, every time Sasuke was around or even close to Naruto, he got this weird feeling inside of him that he'd never felt before. Sasuke was cold and he made people cry, (well actually just his stupid little fan girls) he was an Uchiha and grew up isolated, making no friends at all. He just focused on school and his successful future no matter how much it seemed to bore him to tears. And this feeling, the stoic Uchiha Sasuke didn't like very much because he didn't like the blonde very much, the epitome of annoying and idiotic…or did he? Somehow he was getting to Sasuke.

School had only just started in September, and aspirations, of course had been set for the young Uchiha by his parents. He didn't mind, his parents had only always did that. The only time he didn't have such high expectations was when Itachi was still around. That was when _he _was favorite child. But with Itachi gone, his parents, well…mostly his father, let Sasuke take the place of his high expects.

Now, even though he had high academic expectations, he felt that there was something else to do this year. Sasuke wasn't exactly sure what it was, but it never did appear in his head until the second-to-last week of September. Eventually Kami-sama would let the thoughts flow, but not now. First everything had to be set in motion.

By the somehow short time Sasuke had completed all of his thoughts, everyone else had filled up the classroom and the desks. Chattering and whatnot had resumed as they had waited for the bell to ring. Naruto, on the other had, didn't feel very conversational at this time and dragged out his drawing pad. He started to flipped to a clean page, then he suddenly stopped.

He looked at the sketch he had never seen before. Never. The date on it was only a few days ago. Naruto didn't draw this, he knew he didn't, he would have remembered it. The only reason he was freaking out so much about it was because the drawing looked like it was drawn in his hand. After all it was his sketchbook. He saw that in the picture, it was him and Gaara when they were children, behind them was a broken and dirty brick wall. In front of the wall was none other than Itachi-sensei. Naruto slightly turned red.

The bell rang as all of Naruto's thought went blank and away from the mysterious sketch. Kurenai-sensei strode into the room of talking students. She sat down at her desk and started organizing all the papers that were on there. Sakura looked at her and raised her hand.

Without looking up, "Yes Sakura? What do you need?" she asked politely.

"Kurenai-sensei, are we going to get to read that newspaper you told us about?" she asked curiously.

Some people scowled at her, "Oh jeez, thanks Sakura for reminding her. Do you think that anyone in here really wanted to read that? It sounds so boohooing." Kiba drawled. He hated to read, that was Shino. Kiba wasn't really into books and all that. That was Shino too.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him.

Kurenai looked up, "Oh yes, you're right we didn't. It must have slipped my mind." she said. She proceeded to the back table to get the stack of copies of a newspaper. Swiftly, she passed a single copy to every person, "Did everyone get a copy?" She looked on as her students nodded, she did as well, "Now everyone, get with a partner." she said, clapping her hands.

As soon as they heard the word "partner", every girl (with the exclusion of Tenten and Hinata) looked at Sasuke, hoping he'd choose one of them to be his partner, then girls started playing out timelines that involved him getting married and all that funny stuff that silly little fan girls did. All he did was stand and walk.

Naruto unwantingly made eye-contact with Gaara. Nothing happened, but they stayed locked like that until Gaara opened his mouth to speak, "Kurenai sensei can we work on our own?" he asked, still looking at Naruto.

"Yes, if that is what you wish. You may work together or by yourselves if it makes you feel more comfortable and helps you concentrate. However, no groups of three." And with that, he broke the eye-contact.

Naruto looked away from Gaara because there was a shadow hanging over him, he looked up to find Sasuke looking down at him, "You mind if I work with you?" All the girls held their breath.

"…Sure, why not." Sasuke pulled up a chair to Naruto's desk. Kiba made a kind of snarling noise under his breath. The girls, especially Ino and Sakura scowled angrily at Naruto, very disappointed. Ino sighed and bounced back from the disappointment, however Sakura was very angry…

Both of the boys looked at the newspaper, "…So where's the title?" Naruto asked unsurely.

"Hang on, here it is. 'Another child of the port is raped,'" Sasuke looked at Naruto who flinched. He looked at the article pretending like he didn't know what it was. Gaara looked oddly at Naruto knowing exactly what it was going to be about.

Naruto took a deep breath, "So uhh...Sasuke, you wanna- you wanna read?" he asked. He was slightly shaking and he could feel his body heating up.

"Okay." He started to read. Sasuke didn't notice Naruto's strange behavior.

"'A new report says that yet another child has been raped in an unsaid location. Sources say that the boy's parents died when he was he was just a baby. This boy has been living with a group of orphan children alone in a abandoned apartment on the edge of the city, close to the ocean.

"'It was late last night that one of the children called in an emergency saying that his brother had been missing and kidnapped because he was nowhere to be found. The authorities automatically set out to find the child immediately. Information released from the medics had said they had found a strange drug in the boy's circulation system. Comments from them say that this wouldn't be the first time this child had been violated before. It was only once before and they suspect that it might happen again.

"'As of now the police are searching for this man and his may be accomplices'. We don't know yet who did such a thing to this poor six year old. They boy's name, as well as his siblings names, have been released to the press. The eldest child says he intends to make a statement on a pending court date, showing his parental authority and custody of the two children and his sister and brother that he currently lives with.'"

_They just had to put the names in there…damn it. I hope they- oh hell what does it matter, all I have is my damn reputation on the line… _Naruto thought. He was terrified, he didn't know what was going to happened if he heard his name in association with rape. Much worse, he didn't know the reactions of all the other students in the class. And what would Gaara do? What would Sasuke say?

Unaware of Naruto's fumbling and being scared enough to piss himself, Sasuke continued, "'The released name of the said victim was Uzumaki Naruto and-" That was where Sasuke stopped. He read over the line again, blinking a few times. He checked and double checked. Yes, that was the name, they had printed it right. Sasuke looked up at Naruto who was shaking violently, "Err… Naruto are you okay?" Inside his head, he slapped himself, _No you dumbass, he's not okay…! _And then it went somewhere.

Naruto didn't answer.

More eyes started to fall upon Naruto as they read the name that had been printed in association with the word "rape". Everyone was shocked and words failed them. They now knew the secret Uzumaki Naruto was hiding. They now knew why he had defended himself so fiercely on that first day they had met him. People were instantly filled with shame and regret. People were gasping and eyes were wide. This was Konoha after all, terrible things like rape just usually seemed like a nightmare.

Gaara sighed, more calm then all the rest. He knew something like this was going to happen. It had to happen eventually anyways. "Kurenai-sensei, did you even know what the article was about?" he asked hotly, becoming outraged. He was stuck on the other side of the class room, "Naruto, are you alright?" he said louder.

Naruto wasn't alright, all through his mind were replays of his vicious and unforgiving childhood. The first time he killed a person, the first time he had a bottle of sake, the first gun he had, the first massacre he'd done. When Gaara and his siblings moved away, the repeated rapes…then when he moved away. It flashed like a movie, right before his eyes…like he was dying. Everything around him, his vision, his senses, they were dissolving into black.

"Catch him, he's going to fall!" Ino exclaimed. Sasuke didn't need telling twice. He caught the passed out Naruto before he crashed.

"I think someone should take him to the nurse…" suggested Tenten in a hurry. Everyone quickly murmured in agreement.

"I'll do it." Everyone looked at Sasuke. Since he was already in his arms anyways. At this point, Gaara didn't care who the hell it was, just as long as Naruto was going to be okay. He promised himself he'd take care of him no matter the circumstances. And this was not an exception.

Sasuke stood up with the blonde in his arms bridle-style. He looked at his face, it was twisted into hurt and fear, as if he were having a nightmare in the depths of his unconsciousness. Sasuke's automatic thought at this was those emotions didn't fit the small blonde in his arms.

Gaara glared at Sasuke, "Tch…what are you doing standing there?" he demanded glaring at him. "Go and take him to the nurse, now would be a good time to do that." His jade eyes were glittering angrily and his voice was hard. Sasuke glared right back at him.

_I'm gonna get you for this. But later, right now getting Naruto to the nurse is top priority. If I don't hurry, this could get really ugly really fast. _Sasuke quickly walked out of the room

Everyone watched as Sasuke and Naruto, cradled in his arms, disappeared into the hallway. No one knew exactly what to think. But Naruto was going to now, definitely, be the talk of the entire school. Everyone would make sure of that.

Gaara moved from his desk to the front of the classroom. "Gaara, what are you-" But Kurenai was cut off when Gaara gave her and dirty and deathly glare. He turned his head to look at all his classmates. They all looked back at him, but avoided looking strait in the eye.

"All of you, if any this gets out to the rest of the school, you will have _me _to deal with." he said menacingly. He was angry, no…he was beyond that. "This is to _remain a secret _for the rest of they year. _Got it?_" They all nodded quickly at him. Gaara put his hand on his forehead, now completely all stressed out…_Please be alright Naruto…_

* * *

Sasuke was still walking fast as he entered the nurse's office. No one was in the room, it was only him and the unconscious Naruto. Gently and carefully, he laid his small frame on one of the long beds in the room. The blonde didn't look so pained anymore, his face was smoothed out as if he were sleeping, which most likely, he was now. Unaware of his actions, Sasuke put his hand on the blonde's face. It was soft and smooth. He never noticed it before, but the boy's face was beautiful when asleep. Sasuke liked the feel of his hand on Naruto's face, it was like it felt…somehow right, like that's what was meant to be. But how could it? It all seemed so wrong…

Naruto was dreaming of the past.

**-Flashback-**

Naruto hid behind a bed frightened half to death. His gun was clenched close to his chest, and he heard multiple gunshots outside, and was sure someone was going to come to rape him again. He poked his head out just over the window seal. It was like a war out there, only no big explosions, that was last time. He saw many men on the ground dead and the live ones on the brink of death hanging on for dear life.

A single man caught the little Naruto's eye. He looked no more older than a teenager, maybe fifteen. The only reason he had caught the child's eye was because he was killing everyone that shot at him. With only one shot too. Even with the little talent he had, Naruto could never shoot like that. He was amazed and mesmerized…until the guns stopped. Everyone around the man was dead.

The man looked around, Naruto figured he was double checking just to make sure he had gotten everyone. He looked up, then down. He stared at the building Naruto was in, making Naruto put his head back in the window. Downstairs, he could hear the door open. A gunshot was fired and there was a thump to the floor. Up the stairs, down the hall, Naruto's heart was beating extremely fast as he heard footsteps coming closer to the room he was in.

_Why did they pick such a time to move away? Now of all times… _he smacked his forehead,_ And where the heck's Kohana? She said she'd be back soon… _Naruto was terrified and didn't know what to do. Then he remembered the gun he was clenching to his chest. It would be the first time he killed a person…The door opened, Naruto, quietly as he could, pulled back the firing pin to his Colt Python .357 Magnum.**(1)**

"Hello? Is there anyone in here? If there is, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." said a man's voice. He looked around the room for any signs of life in the room, but he couldn't find any so far…

Naruto shifted to become more comfortable, making a small, but noticeable, noise, "Hello?" the man asked again.

Naruto had no choice but to reveal himself, he stood up with the Magnum pointed at the stranger in front of him. "Wh-what do you want?" he asked, trying to be fearless. His shaking knees weren't helping at all.

"Hmm, that's a very nice revolver you're brandishing there little boy." the man said smiling. "Were you expecting a bad man to come and hurt you?" he asked. At this Naruto glared at him. He put his tiny finger on the trigger. The man only had a very small reaction to this, "Are you going to shoot me?" he asked. He was being polite and every thing. Naruto couldn't shoot a man like that, but he stayed on his guard. "That's better. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself."

Naruto scowled at him, "I still have the gun," he said stubbornly, "You wouldn't be the first man I've killed." But the man just looked at him. "Whatt're ya doin' here anyways mister, you don't look like you're from around here." he said. He wasn't so scared and nervous anymore. The man didn't seem so bad. "I woulda seen ya." he finished childishly.

The man laughed, "So you know everyone around here? A real social butterfly, huh?" he said. "Heh, I like you kid. Do you live here by yourself? Don't you have a family?" Naruto looked at his feet and the man stopped laughing, "Oh, I see…you don't, are you by yourself." Naruto shook his head. "Aw well what's the matter, you were just talking a lot like you were okay."

"M'name's Uzumaki Naruto mister, I have no family, I live here with my friend Otomushi Kohana. It's a bad place for kids like us to live alone, but we ain't got nothing else…" Naruto said sitting on the small, old bed behind him. Then he looked up at the man, "Do you have a name mister?" he asked, his eyes going bright.

The man smiled, "Yes. My name is Uchiha Itachi."

Naruto laughed. Although he didn't know why. He didn't know he was just happy. "Itachi-senpai! Can I call you that?"

Itachi laughed again, "Sure, if you'd like Naruto-kun." he replied

"So Itachi-senpai, whatcha doin' here in a place like this?" he asked again, placing his Colt next to him. "It can't be on business, we ain't got much of that around here anyways. Didja come to visit a friend?"

Itachi nodded. "As a matter-of-fact, I did. Unfortunately, my trip was in vain. My friend was killed." At this, Naruto frowned, being very sorry that his new senpai's friend was killed. Itachi saw Naruto's down expression, "Don't worry, he lived a great life and he was happy. Dying the way he did, I'm sure he went down valiantly."

_Valiantly…huh?_ Naruto thought.

**-End Flashback-**

Naruto eyes opened and light flooded his vision. He had a blink a few times to adjust his eyes to the bright lighting. His head hurt, and because it hurt, he gave a soft groan.

Sasuke was still in the nurse's office, she never did return so he decided to stay with Naruto rather than leave him alone. He saw Naruto shift on the bed and he heard his groan. He smirked, but on the inside he was relieved. "Welcome back to the world of the living." he said still smirking.

His head was spinning; he couldn't remember anything that had happened in the previous hour….or was it hours? "Ugh…Sasuke what period is it? And what-ow…- happened?" Naruto asked, putting a hand on his head to keep it from spinning.

Sasuke went to sit at the foot of Naruto's bed, "It's closing into the end of seventh period. And as for what happened, you passed out after I read your name in that paper." he replied. He didn't know if what he had read was true or not, but then if It wasn't, then why did Naruto break down like that? It must be true then…

He sat up, facing Sasuke frowning, "Souka**(2)**…So now everyone in the class knows…" He was hoping that it wasn't going to get out to the rest of the school, he'd really be the one everyone talked about then. He also hoped that Gaara, even though they still weren't talking, had put some kind of control over them to make them not want to tell. But that happening was a slim chance.

"Sore de**(3)**…are you alright now? Is anything else wrong?" Naruto looked at Sasuke who was looking back and him serious and concerned. They just stared at each other for a long time.

"Sasuke, you weren't…actually _worried_ about me, were you?" he said, trying very hard not to laugh.

Sasuke glared at him, "Why would I worry about a dobe like you? You were obviously fine, I just stayed here until you woke up so you wouldn't freak when no one was around." he said shrugging.

Naruto rolled his eyes, grinning playfully, "Tch, you're lying. No one can lie to me because I have a built in lie-detector." he said tapping his head. The blonde looked Sasuke strait in the eyes, and inched himself closer to Sasuke. "Yep, you're lying. You were wor-" but he was cut off. Sasuke had grabbed his arm, his hand was warm. "Sasuke…what are you…" Suddenly Sasuke crashed his lips onto Naruto's, closing his eyes. Temptation had gotten the better of him yet again.

Naruto's azure eyes went bright and wide. He couldn't believe what was happening at the moment. Then he felt all he could do was except it. Out of reflex more than anything else, Naruto's lips started part slowly; he couldn't control himself. Sasuke was surprised when Naruto's lips parted, but he didn't mind at all, this just gave him incentive to slip his tongue in. When Naruto felt Sasuke's tongue, his own acted alone.

Naruto fell back and Sasuke ended up hovering over him, they were still kissing. And it was passionate. Sasuke's hand started to travel up Naruto's torso, making him let a muffled moan out. The both of them had no idea what they were doing, but they both knew they didn't want to stop now. Sasuke massaged Naruto's stomach. His skin was soft and warm. Naruto started to wrap his arms around Sasuke's neck, ringing him in closer so it was easier to continue to kiss him.

Neither of them had their eyes open; they both felt as if it were a wonderful and fulfilling dream, and that if they woke up, the dream would disappear. They didn't want that.

Sasuke was lost, he didn't know what he was doing. He didn't know how he'd gotten into this position with the dobe he _thought_ he didn't like very much. That's what he was thinking, just earlier today. Some kind of gate had been opened when Itachi joined the picture, somehow…Itachi knew the smaller teen under him, and it was like he wanted the blonde dobe. That must've been when the gate shot open. Sasuke just realized he wanted the dobe for himself, not for Itachi.

Naruto was getting harder by the second, his body was getting hotter too. Then he felt Sasuke's hand start to wander below his torso, but it skimmed the surface of his pants until it reached Naruto's crotch. The raven pulled away and he was grinning, "Well, well, what do we have here?" he said, "What do you want Naruto?" he asked. He'd opened his eyes, and he was so greatly relieved that it wasn't a dream that was going to disappear. Naruto opened his eyes as well and he still didn't know what he was doing. He moaned softly as the teen above him rubbed and groped him.

"Sasu…ke…" he moaned again. "I want…" But the words wouldn't come out; somewhere…far, very far in the back of his mind was still conscious of what the body was doing. It told him to push Sasuke away and to leave as fast as he could. But Naruto couldn't hear it really well. "S'suke…" he tried again, "I want…y-…" And then just as soon as it started, it ended.

Naruto aggressively pushed Sasuke off of him, sending Sasuke into the wall by the nurse's desk. Naruto looked horrified at Sasuke, just then realizing what was happening. Sasuke stared back at Naruto, no longer grinning. He rubbed the back of his head after it had slammed against the wall when Naruto pushed him.

All his mind was now telling him was, _Run, you idiot. Get out of there!_ Naruto slowly stood up, his face was hurt, he didn't mean to push Sasuke, he didn't even want to. Sasuke gave Naruto a hurt look and a slight glare. The blonde opened his mouth to say something, but all Sasuke could hear was mumbling.

Naruto slightly opened his mouth to speak, but it only came out in a mumble. He'd meant to say he was sorry. He then looked at the door, he ran, ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He had to get as far away from Sasuke as he could, as far as the school boundaries would let him. Naruto felt horrible. He'd just done something- no, _somethings_ he was going to regret. He burst loudly through the boy's locker room door by the gym, quickly shutting it behind him. He looked at the know to find a lock and the twisted it.

He slid down against the door grabbing is head and clenching his hair. What just happened? Naruto was so confused he almost couldn't even remember his name. He'd probably hurt Sasuke from pushing him, he'd probably made himself look like a fool sprinting through the halls from Sasuke. None of that was supposed to happen…if it wasn't for stupid Kurenai-sensei and that damn news article, none of this would've happened. Then he started to blame himself.

It was his own fault that he didn't say anything before they'd even finished the first part. It was all his fault for even moving away from Kawagari when that stupid man had told him. He should've stayed with Kohana…What was he thinking?(!) Everything that had happened up until now…it was all his fault…Man did he hate feeling sorry for him elf…

* * *

"Oi, Naruto, Sasuke!" Shikamaru walked into the nurses office. He didn't see Naruto around, but there was Sasuke sitting on one of the beds, "Yo, Sasuke, where's Naruto?" he asked looking at the still figure. Sasuke didn't answer. He looked up at Shikamaru with a stoic look on his face. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Sasuke, doushita**(4)**?" he asked.

Sasuke stood up, popping his back and rubbing his head because it still hurt slightly. "Naruto's not here." he replied.

Shikamaru raised the other eyebrow, "Souka**(2)**, so where is he? Why isn't he here?" he asked, watching Sasuke. All he got in reply was a shrug. "You let him go?" he asked again, "Gaara sent me down here to check on him."

Sasuke looked at him at the mention of Gaara's name, "Gaara did, huh? The dobe left. Me and him…He and I-"(because Sasuke doesn't use improper grammar) "got into a little fight and he left." he explained, lying.

"So what am I supposed to tell Gaara? He's gonna be mad Y'know." he responded.

"Hn, like I care." Sasuke replied. He left the room, not saying anything else.

Shikamaru sighed, "Tch…troublesome…" he yawned.

* * *

Naruto never showed eighth period. Everyone was asking Sasuke where he'd gone, but Sasuke wasn't talking to anyone and made them leave him alone with a dark glare. Shikamaru watched as he and Gaara kept glaring at each other when they were playing one on one soccer. The never spoke to one and other and soccer, Shikamaru figured, was a way for them to release their annoyance and anger with each other on each other. They'd both had a couple of cuts and bruises by the time the period was over.

The bell rang and Gaara was the first out of there, minutes before Sasuke and even more time before anyone else.

Naruto sat in the back of the locker room now after he'd checked his watch and saw that the day was over. He had his orange towel draped over his head and he was sweating because he'd been playing with a soccer ball by his lonesome for the whole hour. Once he'd heard the door open, he knew Gaara'd be the first one in, everyone else fallowing minutes later. That's why Naruto choose the back, that's where Gaara's locker was.

Gaara walked to his locker to find a kid with an orange towel draped over his head. Naruto. Sighing, he walked over and pulled the towel off of his head. Naruto looked surprisingly up to find his friend glaring down at him. "Where the hell've you been?" he said irritated. "I almost killed Uchiha thinking about you." Almost. "No one wouldn't stop bothering the both of us about where you were while we were playing soccer." He didn't mention that the both of them were going to kill each other; that was on a need-to-know basis. He watched Naruto look back down. Something was wrong with him. "Naruto, doushita?**(4)**" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Naruto took a long sigh then looked back up at his friend. "Gaara, you gotta come over to my place, I've got some important stuff to tell you…" he said. Gaara looked at the blonde's dull, foggy azure eyes. Something was definitely up…

"Alright, give me a chance to get changed, we'll walk home together." he replied turning away from Naruto. He sighed as everyone else walked in chattering about the day's events. All he didn't hear was what happened in fifth period. Good.

After Gaara was done, he and Naruto swung their backpacks over their shoulders. They walked. As they passed the other sections of the locker room, heads turned. Without noticing it, Naruto walked passed Sasuke, (mainly because he blinked.) and Sasuke looked back as Naruto and Gaara turned the corner, he heard the door swing open, it hit the wall, and clicked shut.

"Oi, Sasuke, why don't you tell us what happened now?" Kiba said, turning to Sasuke after he'd shut his locker. "Did you and Naruto get into a fight or something'?" he asked.

_A fight, huh? _Shikamaru thought. _No that's not what happened. I'm sure it was something more major than that…_ He looked at Sasuke then Sai, who started to talk.

"It wasn't a fight." he said, smiling. After all he had seen some of what happened in the nurse's office. Poor, poor Sasuke. "It was something a little more than a fight." Shikamaru looked at Sai's smile. What a strange kid.

* * *

The entire way home, neither Gaara or Naruto said a word. Gaara wondered what was going on in his friend's mind. Something had to be troubling him. But what could it be?

Naruto unlocked his apartment door and they walked in. He tossed his stuff carelessly to the side. Gaara fallowed in his suit. "So what's this all about?"

Naruto sighed, sitting on his couch. He didn't know how Gaara was to react to this and he didn't know how he himself was going to react to Gaara's reaction. Well he was going to find out. "Gaara," he started, "something happened today…and I don't know how to tell it to you." he said honestly.

Gaara looked closely at him, "So what was it?" he asked, hoping it was nothing bad that involved Sasuke, otherwise he'd regret not killing that damn Uchiha when he'd gotten the chance.

"What happened?" he asked.

"After I'd woken up in the nurse's…Me n' Sasuke…well…we…" he drifted off not know how to say it.

"Oh Naruto, just spit it out damn it." he said. Naruto was always one to beat around the bush. And what the hell was he trying to say about him and Sasuke anyways? What the hell did that damn Uchiha do to _his _friend?

Naruto took a deep breath. "Sasuke…he kissed me. The we almost did it in the nurse's office. If it wasn't for me pushing him off of me, we woulda gone all the way." he finished. "I didn't mean to push him so hard. After, I ran to the locker room and that's why you found me in there. I didn't know why Sasuke did that, I don't know why I even went along…" he trailed off looking at Gaara. Gaara just stared at him. And stared and stared. Naruto was starting to feel very uncomfortable. "Gaara…?" he asked. Gaara shook his head and laughed. He just laughed. Naruto was greatly surprised by this, Gaara _never almost never_ laughs.

"So that's it, huh. I was wondering when that was going to happen. You know, I knew Uchiha had a thing for you." he said, still laughing. Naruto blinked, and he blinked a couple more times. Was Gaara really not taking him serious, or did he not care that Naruto almost got his freak on…He folded his arms and sighed in relief.

"Well…this wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I thought you were gonna get angry and try to go kill Sasuke or something." Naruto said, nodding. "I'm very glad you're taking it so well." Because if he hadn't, it would've been a whole big mess.

"So tell me blondie-" Naruto puffed his cheeks childishly at this, "-did Sasuke tell you if he liked you or not?" Gaara asked, still somewhat laughing.

Naruto stopped. "No." he replied. And then he went down logic lane, "Why would he? Me and him are both dudes, do you know how messed up that would be?" he said.

Gaara stopped laughing instantly. Did he really just hear Naruto pick logic to answer his question. He rubbed the back of his head. "Since when did love have to be hetero?" he asked, putting his friend to the test.

Naruto looked up at his redheaded friend. "…What…?" Hetero? Hentai Gaara!!! was Naruto's thought. Then he stopped again. _Love? Love…there's something I don't hear very often…_ He looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. _No…I can't love Sasuke, I barely even know him! And there's no way a guy like him would be gay anyways. He's got girls draping themselves over him practically 24/7. He probably got carried away in earlier…_ And he went on and on in his head.

Gaara watched Naruto as several expressions passed over his face. Confused, sad, surprised, sad, unsure, sad…"Naruto? Hello, Naruto?" Finally he pulled his friend out of his deep thoughts with a snap of his fingers. "Back to earth Naruto."

"Oh, Gaara…" Naruto said looking at his friend. "Look, even if I did like him, it's not like the feeling's mutual. There's just no way he'd be gay. Hell I don't even know if I am." It was true, he was confused on his orentation…he didn't know if he was running a strait line or kicking rainbows. For all he knew he could be on a zigzag… He stood and walked to a wooden cabinet.

"Oi Gaara," he called, "Want some sake?" he asked, pulling out a white rice wine jug.

Gaara looked at Naruto. Him and that damn habit… "Oi, what did I tell you about that? You shouldn't be drinking at your age." he chided.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I take that as a no?" He thought for a second, "Wait a minute. Aw Gaara don't give me that shit. We've been gettin' drunk since we were kids. I brought every liquor from Kawagari that I had. Especially my French collection. So do you want any or not?" he asked again.

Gaara rolled his eyes, "Alright, whatever. I'll get the cups. While we're drinking we can discuss your little Uchiha problem." he replied.

"Yosh!!" Naruto laughed.

"And about Itachi-sensei…" Gaara started.

* * *

**(1) Yes, this is an actual gun. I own one of these myself. They stopped making them in 1996  
(2) If you haven't picked up that much from watching anime, Souka means "I see"  
(3) ****Now it's the same as 2 but I'm not so sure. I translated it as Sore de meaning "So"  
(4) **Same concept as 2&3 Doushita means "What's wrong?"

So was it good? I hope so. The nurse's office scene was originally just a kiss and an angry Sasuke after feeling rejected. He'd left, not Naruto. But I didn't like it, so I changed it. I hope it was a good change.  
**Naruto:** Oi, oi, Sasuke, I didn't hurt you did I?  
**Sasuke:** No, I'm fine.  
**Naruto: **Hey Heartless, did Sai really see us?  
**Heartless:** Yeah, that was a pretty spontaneous idea of mine. It wasn't going to be put in there actually.  
**Sasuke:** It wasn't very smart. But as long as you don't make him say nothing...


	9. Truth?

**A/N- **Heeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllloooooooooooooooooooooo~!! Haha, sorry it's been so long. I never had enough motivation to get this done, but I finally did. I'm sorry to the people who had to wait, I know you people love this story. I wish it had more reviews....that's why it took so long too, I didn't know which direction I had to head in. I added a lot more stuff from the original version on LJ, I i completely improved the yaoi. (Yes, there is sex in this chapter. I like it~!!) So anyway, I hope you all enjoy~!!

* * *

Naruto was glad it was the weekend again because it was going to be a long four-day break for him to relax and at least _try_ to forget all his troubles. He thought he was going to have to drink his sorrows off, but since he and Gaara began talking again, for real this time, he figured he wasn't going to have to. Once again, he had someone to go to for help and comfort.

He smiled warmly at the thought, at least he hadn't lost his best friend. Without realizing it, his mind then turned to Sasuke. Naruto frown very sadly. Sasuke, who'd kissed him, Sasuke, who's lips tasted nice, Sasuke, who he had almost gone all the way with, Sasuke, who he didn't know how he felt about anymore.

Naruto was still so confused about the whole thing and didn't know what to think. He was lost, and without trying to sort it out with the Uchiha, he would stay like that. He really hadn't meant to push Sasuke and hurt him, he really didn't. And he really hoped Sasuke wasn't mad at him for doing so, maybe he thought that it was an accident. Not likely.

His mind was confused all they way to the outer most part of the most complex maze in the world. It was completely lost, and not only that, but it urged him to drink as well, but Naruto did his best not to listen to it. His heart was the one that told him everything was gonna be alright and that things would return to normal soon. His heart better be right or Naruto might just have to listen to his mind…

* * *

Sasuke stood outside on his balcony thinking along the same lines Naruto was back in his apartment. But for Sasuke, it was different in his case, he was depressed…even though his stoic face hid it. He'd felt so stupid for doing what he did to that dobe of a blonde. And he hadn't realized it was stupid until_ after_ Naruto had pushed him off.

Why? Why did Sasuke have to be such a…a _bastard_? That was Itachi's job, not his. He messed everything up, all that work of trying to get closer to Naruto was gone and it would _never _come back. Ever. At this point Sasuke had never felt so…hopeless in life, so bad, so worthless. He was at an all time low.

He exited his balcony and went inside to the kitchen to get a drink of water. As he felt the coldness waterfall down his warm and dry throat, he closed his eyes, _I thought that…no I must have been carried away by the moment…so carried away that I was ready to do it in a nurse's office. _That was a lie and Sasuke knew it before he even thought it.

An Uchiha, especially the angsty and stoic Sasuke, was never carried away by anything, not even the most romantic moment in the history of romantic moments…Or so he thought. What happened in the nurse's was no where near romantic, not even close. So why had Sasuke done it? He wasn't going for the obvious, no, he didn't love Naruto, there was no way. _I guess I just never realized how…adorable and beautiful he was. _But Sasuke would never go for someone just because of their body, that was wrong…

Sasuke had to leave his apartment, it was suddenly hot and cramped in there. If he didn't leave, he was sure he would suffocate. Where he would go, he didn't know, to a park or something, somewhere where he could think more clearly and try to sort this mess of his.

As he grabbed his black hoodie, he sighed, _I'm going to make this right…somehow…_ He locked the door at left out into the cool autumn night.

* * *

Naruto stared at his bright orange sweater. Where would he go if he went out? Surely nowhere someone like him should be going, but what did he care? He used to go out in the middle of the night back home. Kohona was safer, therefore it was less likely that he would be…sexually violated, and on top of that, he could now defend himself.

_I'll go anywhere, I can't stay here right now…maybe the cool fresh air will help clear my mind._ Naruto wanted to fix this whole situation badly, but before he could go to see Sasuke to clear it, he would have to fix his side first.

The door clicked shut.

* * *

Naruto sat in an empty park with his hands stuffed in the orange sweater. He glanced at the autumn leaves falling off the trees and dancing to the ground._ I know it's not going to come true, but I wish Sasuke would come here that way we could at least talk about this… _He sighed hopelessly, _How very, very stupid of me. But I can't help it…ever since the incident, I've dreamed about him every night. _Weather it was a nightmare or a dream, he was still the same cool, calm and collected Sasuke.

Naruto reflected on what he'd just thought, "Stupid…" he mumbled then smacked his forehead. He suddenly flinched because his arm twitched in pain. He rolled up his sleeve to reveal cuts lashed on his arm that were faded out. He sighed as he rolled his sleeve down. From the very first cut he'd slashed on his arm, Gaara was against it. He was against it in every form, shape, and way. One of his first comments about it was that Naruto was being weak.

Naruto knew he should have thrown that back in Gaara's face when he tried to commit suicide. That he was being weak and giving up, everyone knows death is easy, but life, life is complicated and hard. Gaara was just trying to give up…

He'd given up cutting a long time ago, after he fully understood what kind of "weak" Gaara was talking about. Resorting to physical pain to escape all the emotional and mental pain he was in was weak of him and it was something he would never do again. It was also something he could never forget and physically remove. The scars would always be there.

The blonde boy vowed he would never be so weak again after Gaara and the other's moved away, that he would protect Kohana and help all the rest of his broken generation. He'd kept that vow…well actually certain parts of it. Rape was still included in the every day life, but he'd still kept most of his friends from dying. He wished it was all of them.

After that very sad thought, it was time to quit feeling sorry for himself. It was pathetic. Naruto slowly forced himself from the bench and decided to go and take a long walk around Konoha and not get home till tomorrow. He quickly wheeled around, not looking where he was going and- "Hey watch it," said a gruff voice. The blonde stopped, he recognized it immediately.

He looked up, "Sasuke…?" he said, his voice now feeling oddly strained. He heart beat faster as he was very close to Sasuke's body and his face.

Sasuke looked down to see a pair of big azure eyes staring up at him. Their faces were close to each other, "…Naruto." he finally said.

"Oh crap, it did come true…" Naruto had good karma whether he wanted it or made a thoughtful face. Sasuke was walking off, he shot his hand after him, "Wait Sasuke! Get back here, I need to talk to you!" He ran to catch up with Sasuke. When he latched his hand onto Sasuke's shoulder, "Wait up, would you?" he said faintly.

Sasuke turned around sharply to glare at the smaller teen, "Look, what do you want?" he said in a low, dangerous voice.

Naruto widened his eyes for a moment, relaxed, then straitened up, "I just wanna talk, Sasuke please?" he said softly, looking away at a tree.

Sasuke looked at him curiously, no longer glaring. He sighed, _Alright Sasuke, time to hear what he's got to say. Then we'll fix this… _"What do you want?" he said in a much calmer voice. Naruto looked back at him wearing a very faint smile on his lips. It was time for him to fix things.

Naruto took a very deep breath, preparing himself for whatever was about to come out of his own mouth, then whatever Sasuke's reaction would be. "Look, I've been thinking about it a lot, and what happened in the nurse's-" No not that, "-what I'd done to you, it wasn't right and I apologize. And…" He looked down, he didn't know how to say it to make it alright. "I'm sorry that…"

_Why does he keep apologizing…? _Sasuke thought sourly. "What are you apologizing for?" he asked. He hated it when people apologized for something they didn't do.

"For pushing you, I'm very sorry. And the other thing, if…you were someone else, I would've considered it rape, just like all those…other times," he explained, moving his arms around to help him explain. "But to me, it wasn't. Somehow, it just…wasn't. You, you're so different from all those other people that did that to me. You, if I woulda said 'stop' I know you would have." he said, trying to make it clear that what happened was alright.

The raven had no response to what Naruto was saying. As if he could speak now anyways, Naruto's words had taken him by surprise. He was trying to say that what Sasuke had done was okay, and that he didn't mind. He stared, and stared, and stared. Then…it was okay…

To Naruto, Sasuke's stare was becoming unnerving, he couldn't read what it was trying to say at all. Something he said, it was wrong. It had to be something Sasuke didn't want to hear. Naruto didn't want to say anymore, but something inside was bothering the hell out of him, his heart wanted to say it, even though Naruto had continuously rejected it so many times.

And then, he snapped. He grasped Sasuke's shoulders, looked down at the ground and opened his mouth, "U-Uchiha Sasuke! I can't do it anymore! My heart is being stubborn, and-and it wants to tell you that- that I like you!" he exclaimed, turning as red as a tomato.

The raven went completely still, looking at the top of the blonde's head in shock, "N-Naruto? You…?" he let out, his face going red.

"I'm sorry! I just…" Just what? What could he say after that? Nothing. There was nothing else to say about it. Naruto turned around and took a run for it.

"Wait Naruto!" Sasuke shouted and shot his hand after him, but it was useless because Naruto wasn't stopping now. Sasuke stood alone behind the bench he was going to sit on. Naruto was no longer in sight. By this time, Naruto picked up to a great speed that would even put some of the best Olympians to shame.

_I'm sorry Sasuke, I can't face you knowing that I like you. Actually, I've liked you ever since the first day we met, I just couldn't admit I to you…I couldn't admit it to myself. But now, now that I said it, I don't just like you, I-I love you! _He stopped, breathless right in front of his apartment. Naruto looked back, panting extremely hard, but Sasuke wasn't there. He didn't fallow him, why? Because he didn't care.

He knew it, he knew Sasuke didn't feel the same way. How could he? Now he was probably disgusted and never wanted to see Naruto again. He feeling hot tears streak down his face. _But the nurse's and…_It was a very bitter pill for him to swallow. Naruto had never loved anyone before. Ever. He used to _like_ Kohana, but never _loved_ her.

But Sasuke, he loved Sasuke. From that very first time at the bus stop.

The voice came again, his most inner conscious**, Hey, what's with the tears. You know how it is, he's just a guy. Like all the others. This is the real world, and you know that. **The voice disappeared and Naruto straitened up, wiped away the tears, and walked up his stairs.

Before he went in though, he looked up at the moon, it was a crescent. He pulled silver necklace that had blue jewels hanging off of it out of his pocket, He closed his eyes and remembered…

**-Flashback-**

Naruto sniffled, "But…Itachi-senpai, do you really have to go?" he asked looking at the ground sadly.

Itachi chuckled, "Sorry Naruto-kun, I really do wish I could stay, but after all, I have a little brother whose waiting for me to come home." he explained, patting a ten-year-old Naruto on the head. "But," Naruto looked at him hopefully, "I do promise to come back and visit you."

Naruto's face lit up happily, "Really? You promise?" he asked more hopefully.

Itachi nodded. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a necklace. Naruto looked at it with wonder, it was so very pretty. "Here, this is for you." He put it in Naruto's palms, "Don't forget me, alright? And I'll be sure to tell my little brother." Itachi kissed Naruto on his forehead and walked off disappearing in the distance.

**-End Flashback-**

Naruto shoved it back in his pocket, then went inside.

* * *

Sasuke slammed his fist on his wall, _Damn, damn, damn it to hell! Sasuke you idiot! Why didn't you go after him? You're so stupid! _he thought, continuously banging his head against the wall. He was going to have a bruise, but he didn't care. He was just so angry at his stupid self

He was so completely confused, Naruto said he liked him, but then ran off. He had to go over there to Naruto's place and tell him. Sasuke's heart started to beat faster at the thought.

Sasuke fell face first on his bed. _I can't believe a stupid little blonde dobe has got me in this state, it's just ridiculous. _he thought, ashamed of himself. He slammed down his fist, _I'm going over there to settle this once and for all._

He pushed himself off his bed violently, grabbed his hoodie once again and slammed the door, not even bothering to lock it.

* * *

Naruto opened his cabinet to all the liquor he owned,_ I just had to have connections huh? _he laughed sadly. Course, all of it tasted very fine and delicious. It's just when you have a _little_ too much that it starts to taste really good.

He thought of Sasuke some more, he thought of what happened in the nurse's. It wasn't so much of what happened, it was just…Naruto _wasn't_ gay…actually he didn't know that certain detail about him anymore. A very profound image appeared in his head. Naruto fell over on the ground at the sight of it.

"This sucks, I miss him…" Naruto told himself. He laughed sadly, "You know it's real funny how fast I could get someone to hate me. One sentence, one phrase, one word, and that was all it took…" He got up.

He continued to look through his assortments of wine, brandy, and other liquor. He picked out one, "Hmm…this is one I haven't had in a while, La Nouveau," France 1956. One of the finest wines in the world. He went to the kitchen to get a wine glass.

There was a knock on his door. "Yeah hold on," Naruto struggled to get the glass from the high cupboard, he tipped it and it fell out and shattered on the ground. He slipped, and landed on his arm, shoving a few shards in deep, "Crap, I made a mess. Oh well...I'll clean it up later." He got up completely ignoring the glass in his arm. That pain was nothing considering some other stuff…

There was another knock on his door, "Yeah, I know, I heard you the first time," He turned the knob, and there was Sasuke, looking at him. "S-Sasuke? Wh-what are you doing here?" Naruto asked turning red with surprise.

Sasuke's attention drew from Naruto's face to his arm. As soon as Naruto noticed this, he quickly put it behind his back, "I slipped." he said sheepishly. Sasuke saw the blood dripping onto the carpet.

"What'd you slip on, glass?" Sasuke said, unconsciously yanking Naruto's arm out from behind his back. Yep, it was glass alright. "You stay, don't move," Sasuke marched strait to Naruto's bathroom.

Naruto stared after Sasuke, confused, _Did…I invite him in?_

When Sasuke was in the bathroom, he quickly began his search for the gauze. Under the sink, on the sink top, on the toilet. He opened the medicine cabinet, and at last, pulled out a roll of gauze.

He walked back into the living room and sat Naruto down on the couch. "You're a hazard to yourself, you know that?" Sasuke looked at Naruto's blood covered arm, "You've fell on glass before?" Sasuke asked, closer observing his arm.

For a moment, the breath got stuck in Naruto's throat, "Um, y-yeah…" he lied quickly. He hoped Sasuke didn't catch him.

But he did. "No, I don't think so." he said skeptically. "These don't look like glass shard scars, they look like- like cuts. Or slashes. From a knife." He looked up at Naruto's red face seriously, "You cut yourself, don't you?"

Naruto looked down then nodded. Sasuke took a deep sigh, "Well, be prepared for some pain, this might hurt a bit."

Naruto thought he could of laughed at what Sasuke said, pain…he's fallen on sharper things than glass, he's felt worse things shoved into his body, "It's nothing to me…it's not gonna hurt," he said quietly. Sasuke pretended not to hear him.

One by one, Sasuke gently pulled out the shards, splashing a bit of blood on the both of them. Naruto didn't wince once, he just sat there calmly not paying any attention. Sasuke wrapped up Naruto's arm in gauze, then placed all the glass on the coffee table.

"All done," he said quietly.

Naruto looked at him, "Sasuke…you're not mad at me, are you?" he asked carefully. This question took Sasuke by surprise.

He raised his eyebrows, "Mad at you? Why should I be mad at you, you're the one who should be mad at me." he said honestly.

"I was sure you would never want to see me again. Y'know after I told you…" He was fumbling with his fingers. He was getting too worked up and needed to calm down. Naruto stood and took a deep breath, "Because I thought you wouldn't feel the same way." Naruto didn't know exactly what to expect from Sasuke as he stood as well, but what he did was unexpected.

Sasuke wrapped his whole around the other teen's waist. Naruto swallowed a little nervous. "So…you do…" But he couldn't continue as Sasuke pressed his body against Naruto's, arching the smaller blonde's back, lowering his lips to press gently along Naruto's neck. On his side, Naruto's pulse began to speed up in a very _un_subtle way.

Without saying anything, Sasuke swooped down and latched onto that pulse point, his lips running smoothly back and forth over the beating. His tongue joined in and Naruto threw his head back to give Sasuke more room to work with.

It was happening again. But this time, both of them didn't care, it was all out in the open. They were both going to enjoy it this time.

"How do you feel right now, Naruto?" the raven purred against the blonde's throat. Naruto, however, could make no reply, as he was trying to straiten his thoughts out.

Sasuke bent down and dragged his lips down Naruto's chest and wrapped his lips around the hardened nipple on first contact. Tanned and delicate fingers reacted and climbed to bury themselves in raven black locks before running back down the clothed back of the older teen.

Deciding he was tired of letting Sasuke dominate, Naruto slid his hands around Sasuke's torso until they were caught between their bodies and working on the small buttons that restricted him from the Uchiha's soft porcelain skin.

The blonde didn't know it, but he was sexually frustrated which was shown by him practically snatching Sasuke's shirt off. He ran his hands over the surface of the pale skin, not being able to have enough of it. Naruto felt like all the problems he had encountered until now had disappeared. He felt great, just like he did in the nurse's office, before he pushed Sasuke.

Sasuke smirked around the nipple he was ravishing. Even though he hadn't done this part the first time while they were in the nurse's office, but he had been imagining it since then in small little skits. Heh, Naruto gave better responses than he thought. Better than he imagined anyways.

With his mouth occupied, Sasuke cast his hand over the slender body of the blonde beneath him and fiddled the button that kept that wretched indigo cloth from the raven's ultimate goal.

"I want you Naruto," Sasuke whispered heatedly. "And I will have you."

Naruto swallowed at the sound of possessiveness of the larger teen above his abdomen and stared down at the midnight locks that were buried into his own abs. He felt his erection forming slightly, and the thoughts that had been thought on the day in the nurse's were resurfacing. _Run you idiot! Get out of there!_ But this time, that wasn't happening. _This _was what Naruto desired.

"Ever since that day, that first day…I've craved for that feel of your dick in my mouth…to feel you tremble and moan beneath me as I slide into your tight little hole. Would you say the same to me?" Sasuke murmured, his lips withdrawing from the delicious little nub and sliding over a tanned abdomen.

The pale hands of the larger teen tugged at Naruto's pants and the button popped off, the zipper sliding down of its own accord as Sasuke removed them. Naruto's tan, throbbing dick met Sasuke's mouth and the blonde clenched his eyes shut at the heated, moist grip around his member.

He'd never…that was a lie, Naruto had dreamt of this, ever since that day, he would unwillingly wake up after having wet dreams about it. It was something, he now realized, that he had wanted more than anything else.

"…A-ah…S'suke…" he moaned, his fingers curling into the fabric of the couch below him.

The raven pulled back, his lips brushing the throbbing head, and he smirked at the lustful blonde below him, "How do you want it, Naruto?" he asked, his voice husky and filled with desire.

Naruto's eyes were still shut, but that didn't keep him from telling the rave above him what he wanted. "Sasuke," he moaned softly as the other fondled with the tip teasingly, "Please…" he moaned again.

Sasuke smirked, he was right where he wanted him, "Please _what?_" he purred enticingly.

"Suck me."

The raven smirked again. Just what he wanted to hear. This was so much better than the first time.

He popped the dick's head into his mouth, circling it with his tongue playfully, then into the slit and sucked it like as if it were a lollipop. He curled his fingers around the base of Naruto's cock before he dropped his mouth all the way down taking Naruto in as far as he was able. His throat squeezed around the member and Naruto inhaled sharply, his breaths now coming out in gasps.

"Ah! Ooh….S-Sas-I'm gonna…S'uke, please" Naruto begged and moaned disjointedly.

Hearing this, the Uchiha pulled back and skimmed over the than and slender body until the two boys were nose to nose, touching, "No, not yet little dobe. You're going to cum only when I'm all the way inside you."

Mental images flashed through Naruto's head and Sasuke reached over the blonde's head, grabbing a tube of lube from seemingly no where. _Wh-what? Wh-where did that come from? _Naruto's thoughts were all jumbled up, did Sasuke have lube with him all the time? Did he have it when they were close in the nurse's? Oh…wow.

The blond could feel the fingers coated with chilly lube circle his tight entrance and as he prepared his tight little hole, stretching it out, Sasuke took little nips and kisses at the blonde's neck.

"Tell me what you want, Naruto" he murmured huskily into Naruto's neck, smirking.

"Please" the blonde gasped, "Don't stop."

"Tell me Naruto." the voice growled in demand.

"I want you," Naruto whimpered breathlessly.

Sasuke's cock throbbed. Damn! He never realized that the smaller teen could be so innocently seductive. Without further ado, he gripped the slim hips of the blonde and pressed forward. The blonde felt the thick penis of the teen above him, (who knew it was so big!) at his entrance and then he felt the penetration. The pressure was delicious, but it was almost too much as Sasuke inched farther into the little teen, pausing to let him get used to the breach.

The two of them met in a sloppy kiss, for this was a exertion test of both teens' stamina.

"Mo-move-Sasu-" the blonde urged cravingly, thrusting upwards towards the raven's body.

Satisfied knowing that the little teen (his lover) was ready for it, Sasuke thrust deep and felt Naruto clenched around him. The little control that the Uchiha contained was slipping and he drove in and out of the tight hole, strongly intent on reaching his goal. Beneath him, Naruto was alternating between biting his lips to muffle moans and squirming whenever Sasuke would pull out too far.

"So…tight…" Sasuke murmured into the blonde's baby fine hair.

"More…" the smaller teen sighed, pressing up so that his neglected dick rubbed against the defined abs of the raven.

Sasuke reached further for the hot and pulsing shaft, tuning his thrusts in time with the throbbing until they started steadily getting quicker and less in tune as the burning desire between them flared into an spicy inferno.

"Gods S'uke" Naruto moaned loudly, meeting each pound with a thrust of his own.

Sasuke groaned as one last thrust brought him to his peak, cumming inside his blonde lover. Keeping a slow thrust as long as he could, Sasuke sped up, fisting Naruto's erection until the blonde cried out, threads of cum covering their sweat-slicked bodies.

Sasuke's arms trembled weakly as he tried to support his weight, not wanting to smother the little blonde below him. Deep in euphoria of bliss, Naruto didn't realize Sasuke pulling out and getting up, returning with a towel to clean their mess.

With a soft, protesting groan, Naruto allowed himself to be lifted from the couch -which was no longer clean by the way- and brought to his room, being settled on his bed.

Naruto's eyelids fluttered over his azure eyes settling as Naruto tried not to fall asleep, it was time to come to a conclusion. "Sasu…ke…" he yawned tiredly, "So…what do you…want to do now?" he asked. It was all strange that this had happened, but he was happy all the same.

For a minute Sasuke didn't say anything, "You caught my attention on the first day of school, at the bus stop," he explained, thinking in flashbacks, "In math class I remember being torn between you and Kakashi. You were something special and I knew it." As Naruto registered what he said, he took in the word special the most, and a tear went down his eye.

"You…thought I was something special…?" He's never heard that from anyone, not even Itachi. Naruto leaned on Sasuke to kiss him. Sasuke was surprised, "No one's ever told me that…and you were the boyfriend I never wanted. The first time I saw you, something inside me snapped…like my mind or something." he explained. "You continuously stared at me for some reason I didn't know, I actually thought you hated me. But when I asked Gaara about it, he said he thought that wasn't the case.

"He said that maybe you really liked me, but I contradicted him saying it wasn't right to like another guy…Gaara smacked me on the back of my head." he admitted sheepishly. He yawned again, "Besides, it was only thanks to Gaara that I got the nerve up to tell you that I liked you. I didn't know how you would feel, but I thought you should know I felt." Sasuke listened silently, taking in everything his little blonde said.

"Which brings us to this evening. I honestly could say that I never thought this could happen for me 'n you. I never thought you had the same feelings…" he kissed Sasuke again.

Sasuke chucked to himself, Naruto looked at him curiously. He knew Naruto was serious, he love him too, he wanted to be with him for the rest of his life. **What did I tell you, I knew I was right. **said Sasuke's little voice. _Yeah, yeah. You were right. _For the time being, all Sasuke could do was kiss Naruto back.

Naruto was more serious this time, he wasn't going to go on without telling Sasuke, even though he knows this kind of relationship might be tough, but he knew that the two of them would get through it.

"Naruto…aishiteru." And for the fist time in Naruto's whole miserable life, he was happy, he was really happy.

* * *

So, was it good? I hope so...  
**Naruto: **Me too...  
**Sasuke: **Yeah, whatever...  
**Saxima: **Don't you roll your eyes at me you little....sheep! You forget, I can turn you into the **uke.  
****Naruto: **(laughing his ass off) Ahaha, that's a good one!! Uke!! Ahahahah!!!  
**Sasuke:** (narrows his eyes) You wouldn't dare...  
**Saxima: **(laughs fiendishly and childishly) Oh yes, I can and I will if you don't be nicer to me.  
**Naruto: **(still laughing his ass off) Sasuke?!?! As the uke?!?! Man...I'd getta kick outta that!!  
**Sasuke: **(glares at Naruto and Heartless) Fine. I----will----try----to----be----nicer----to----you----Saxima.  
**Saxima:** (laughs) And that's all I ask for from my coworkers, respect and complete and total control.

Don't forget to vote in the poll~!!


	10. At Last

**A/N-** Finally!! I've updated something, and it's been like- what...two months?!?! That's ridiculous, seriously! Well enjoy this chapter~!!

**Disclaimer:** Do you see Naruto and Sasuke constantly making out? Then no, I do not own Naruto.

* * *

It was all so…perfect. For a moment, Uzumaki Naruto felt like any kind of tragedy that had happened in his life, never occurred. For that single moment, the no parents, the rape, the moving, the orphaning, none of it seemed real. The only thing that was real to him was Sasuke.

Sasuke, the boy he loved, wanted, the boy he had. Oh yes, everything was…wonderful. That word was foreign to him, he'd never known it. Loneliness was a barrier that had kept him from ever being happy, but now that barrier had been crashed; it was no longer there thanks to the boy that held him.

If any of this was a dream, then you can forget about waking Naruto up- he wasn't going to. Even if it meant spending the rest of his life asleep, he never wanted to wake up. The dream could take him over, and if he died, then that was fine. As long as he was with the boy he loved…he didn't care.

Sasuke was unusually ecstatic these days. Now that he had the huge weight lifted off his shoulders, he no longer had to worry about Naruto _not _knowing his true feelings. And what a pain in the ass that was, not to mention irritating. The whole time, all he wanted to do was just hold Naruto in his arms and never let go. They could die like that and he wouldn't care.

And then there was the only problem in this relationship. What kind of problem could come out of true love, you ask? Well…coming out of the closet of course. No one knew Sasuke was gay, they all thought he was as straight as the Empire State building. Then Naruto, well everyone figured he was strait, considering the way he acted, except for the way he acted around Gaara.

Then there was the matter of Itachi. The older Uchiha wasn't exactly the type to have anything of his stolen, especially someone as precious as Naruto. Though…that could be dealt with later, all Sasuke wanted now was Naruto and the warm feel of their skin touching.

"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered, looking up at the face of his perfect raven.

"Hmm?" Sasuke said, his attention on the stars, "What is it?"

"I'm sorry." his voice was honest and true. "For all the trouble I gave you."

The older teen rolled his eyes. This was the thousandth time that the blonde apologized to him, at first Sasuke thought it was sweet, but now it was just plain stupid. "Hn. I told you to stop apo-logizing already, you didn't do anything wrong." he explained. "_If_ you did have anything to apologize for it would be for being too cute or making this situation so much more stressful than it had to be."

Naruto sighed, "Then that's what I'm saying sorry for- because I made this more stressful. And you can't say anything about that because you just said it yourself." he said wittily.

**Ah, he got you there. **said the little voice in the back of Sasuke's head. He shook his head, _Damn it - you're right._ That was strange, him and that voice never agreed- on anything, even though the voice was always right- about everything.

"Sasuke…earth to Sasuke." Naruto snapped his fingers, Sasuke snapped back into reality, "Hey are you ok?"

"I'm fine." he lied smoothly, "I just had a moment." _Stupid voice._

Naruto grinned, "That's the first time I've ever seen you 'have a moment'. Do you have them often?" he inquired intelligently, as if he were psychiatrist.

That was a good question. Now it needed a good answer, Sasuke didn't want Naruto to think he was a psychotic teen with issues. Taking an unnoticeable deep breath, the raven decided a delicate way to explain it. "You know, this whole time I was trying to get you, there was a voice telling me to go for it, telling me that I _did _care about you. I was constantly arguing with it telling it I _didn't _care, that you were just another boy that I could ignore like the rest and focus on my work." he explained.

Hearing this, the younger scowled, "Focus…on your work?" He couldn't believe it, all the Uchiha were more…alike than he thought. "So you really _are_ his relative." He didn't want to say brother because more questions would rise than necessary, and that was something he didn't want.

Sasuke looked at him with a scary sense of curiosity, raising an eyebrow, "His relative? And who's relative might I be?"

_Damn…_ Naruto knew he shouldn't of made a comment about that, subject changing time! _Quick think of something…port?_ Port! Aha, an escape! "I wonder…" he began, "Sasuke, your brother, when he came back from a trip a while back when you were about eight, did he ever mention anything about a kid he met?"

Sasuke thought about it for a moment, a little ticked at Naruto for changing the subject when he was close to being in hot water, but too distracted by his thoughts to say anything, "Six years is a while… I remember Itachi leaving to go visit one of his friends on the Hokkaido island, some port town like Kawarai…Kawahiri…or something. When he came back he told me something about life there, how it was awful or something…

"Then he told me about this little kid he met, said it was kinda funny. The little boy had a gun and was really scared at first, but once they got to talking, the kid was fine. That's why he had stayed there for so long. The boy had become his 'pupil' or whatever." he explained wondering what Naruto was getting to.

"So if your brother would've told you about this little boy right now, would you feel sorry for him still?" Naruto asked looking up at the moon.

Sasuke mused about it for a second, "Maybe I would."

"What if he was a teenager, just like you? Had friends, went to school, had fun, but was still in the same situation?"

"That's a maybe still."

"Did Itachi ever tell you who that kid was?"

"No." was the short reply. Before Naruto could say something else, Sasuke continued, "But he did show me a picture."

Sasuke remembered the picture, a little blonde boy with big blue eyes filled happiness covering sorrow. He was dirty and his shirt was smudged in different places, behind him was a group of four kids- one with red eyes, one with dirty blonde hair, one with a black hat, and the last had reddish-brown hair, who he had come to recognize now as Gaara. The other two were Kankuro and Temari.

And then there was the red-eyed girl. Who was the she? "In the picture- I now know it was you, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro- there was a little girl with chestnut brown hair and crimson red eyes. I don't think I've ever seen her around the school…unless- she never came here?" Nope, he didn't remember seeing a girl with crimson eyes anywhere.

The blonde teen looked down from the moon, "Crimson eyes, huh?" Oh. Kohana. _I wonder how she's doing… I haven't seen or heard from her in a long time. I hope she's alright._ He sighed, "Well that girl isn't so little anymore. I wonder what she looks like now. . .even though it's only been about three quarters of a year since I've seen her…" he said, talking more to himself than to Sasuke.

It's not that Sasuke was jealous or anything - or was he? "So you do know her…" He saw pictures of them together in Naruto's room, on his dresser and wall. Maybe he used to have a crush on the girl. Key word: _Used to_.

Naruto was sure he'd heard the doubt in Sasuke's voice but pretended not to, "I need to check my mail more often… She used to keep me posted on things that happened, whether they were good or bad…"

Naruto thought back to the day he left Kawagari.

**-Flashback-**

"Hey Naruto!" Kohana was sprinting toward him, not even breaking a sweat or panting. "Wait up,"

Naruto stopped, they were now both at the bus stop on the city limits. "Yeah, what's up? Is some-thing wrong?" He was pretty perceptive and could tell there was something Kohana wanted to say to him.

The crimson-eyed girl bit her lip, looking away, "Naru-chan…promise me you'll stay safe and out of trouble. I'm sure girls are going to swoon over you and…even boys! You're really an awe-some catch. Just- be careful, I don't want you to get hurt on your way to your new life, ok?" she said.

Naruto heard it. The pain in those words, how much she couldn't stand to say them, how much she didn't want to say them. She now realized that she was the only one of their broken little family to be staying in hell. It not only killed her, but it killed Naruto as well.

"Kohana, you don't know how much I want to take you with me. I don't want to leave you and the rest here. But I promise…one day I'll come back, and I'll take you with me- no- all of you. You'll all come with me to a place where we don't have to live in fear anymore, and it'll be great." Naruto could fell his nostrils start to burn and his throat tighten up; he was about to cry. **(1)**

A tear streaked down Kohana's face, Naruto hated that. If she cried, then he would cry, and since he was a grown boy of fifteen, he _didn't_ cry. "I _promise, _I _will _come back to visit you, alright?'

"Naruto, don't forget us."

Naruto looked behind her and saw a big group of all his friends that he was regretfully leaving behind. "Oh Kohana, you're making me not want to leave." He gave her a hug, "You tell me, if anyone ever decides to lay a _hand _on you, all you need to do is call me and I'll be there. You don't deserve this, staying here after the rest of us have already left. None of you." he explained angrily and sourly.

"Awh! Quit being so high and mighty Uzumaki! We still love you!" laughed Nanami Ukima.

"I got an idea! Why don't we take a group picture!" suggested Kaoru Moriguchi happily, "We're going to need something to remember your stupid ass!" Everyone laughed along.

Naruto and his "Hasta la vista" party got in a group in front of the city limits sign. They had some stranger passing by take the picture. Some girls were crying, some boys laughed, and in the center was Naruto and Kohana hugging still.

**-End Flashback-**

Naruto's phone vibrated in his pocket. Pulling it out, "Moshi moshi? **(2) **Who is this? … Kohana? _My_ Kohana?(!) … How are y- … What? Gang- what?! … No, Kohana, you're breaking up! …"

Sasuke looked curiously at the phone, _Kohana huh?_

"No! And how long's this been going on? … I don't believe it! Do you have your gun with you?" Naruto was panicked, this couldn't be happening, not now! Not while he wasn't there!

_Gun? What's he talking about? She can't be anymore than sixteen, she's not old enough to carry a gun! _Sasuke though incredulously.

"What do you mean you got shot?! … Rika's dead! Aru too? Son of a- … Alright- just stay where you are, Kawagari's not far from here, I'll be there in a while with back up. …What do you mean who? Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro of course! … No, you're like their sister. … Yes they _will _come. … Alright, keep hidden and stay ok Koha-"

"Naruto?" Sasuke said cautiously, "What's going on?"

"Shit…her phone got disconnected, I gotta call Gaara." Naruto replied in a rush.

"You sounded like you were giving military orders."

"Did I? Sorry, but you gotta be a solider when it comes to a hell on earth like Kawagari." he explained, dialing Gaara's number quickly. He put the phone to his ear and began tapping his fingers.

This was the first time Sasuke had ever experienced a Naruto that was so…panicked. It was kinda strange. He wondered what could be going on in his little blonde's hometown that was so dangerous- because apparently…it involved guns.

Naruto huffed, "Finally! Temari- put Gaara on. … Don't ask me why! It's an emergency! …What-ever. … Gaara! … No, it's not me, it's Kohana! … No not really- look we have to get down there pronto! … It's a war down there, it could break out all over the island! You know they have ties! … She got shot in the leg and is now hiding. … You need to bring them with us and their guns. … Yes. … Fine, but hurry up, for all I know right now, Kohana could be dead! … Fine, bye." Naruto slapped his phone shut and stood.

"What the hell's the matter?" Sasuke demanded, "What's going on that's got you so fired up?"

Naruto hadn't meant to, honestly, but he glared at Sasuke, "I'm going home to fix an explosion that's about to happen and possibly, I may not be coming back. Good enough for you?" He really hadn't meant to be so ugly about it, he was just so stressed now. Bad things- very bad things could happen if this got out of hand.

Sasuke could tell Naruto was angry about whatever just happened over the phone. "You need to calm down." he said, his voice hard and commanding.

At first Naruto just looked at him. How the hell was he supposed to calm down? _He's right, I can't do anything about it now. I have to wait to be angry, otherwise we aren't getting anywhere._ He sighed, calming himself down. "You're right…I'm sorry it's just- this is a delicate matter. Bad things will happen if we can't fix it."

That was Sasuke's incentive and now he was going. Not a word Naruto can say will stop him, "I'm going." he said simply.

"Haha! You're funny! No." Naruto said sarcastically. "I can't have you in that kind of danger- in that kind of situation."

"You're not my mother. You can't tell me where I can't go." Sasuke challenged. He was probably being cold and a total ass right now, but it was only for Naruto's safety.

"I might not be able to tell you what to do, but you should listen to what I say! Especially on this!" he replied angrily, "You don't seem to get it, this is too dangerous and you could die! I don't- I don't want to lose you Sasuke, not when I just got you…" Naruto looked at the ground. "You mean so much to me and I couldn't bear it if I lost you…"

"You'll never lose me and I'll never lose you. We'll always be together from here on out." Sasuke said warmly, totally making a three-sixty on his previous tone and his normal characterization. "I want to be with you all the time, and if that means putting my life on the line, then so be it." He still saw the sad expression on his blonde's face, "Look, I know how to handle myself, and I know a few people that could join us as well."

Naruto sighed in surrender, "Fine, who are these people you know?"

"Well you know them too. If you're going to get someone that can strategize, then the best person for the job is Shikamaru. Also, you're going to need more back up than just three, I'll call up Neji, Kiba, Shino, Lee, and Chouji."

Naruto made a face, "Are you sure these guys are up to this kind of thing? And what about their parents? You know there going to say something." he explained.

"Hello, you must be forgetting, we all live here. _Without _our parents. They never have to know." Sasuke said smartly.

The blonde huffed, "Fine, 'Mr. SmartOne'. Have it your way." He pulled out his phone and began to dial a number Sasuke couldn't see.

"What are you doing?" the older teen asked.

Naruto quickly shushed him. "Hello. … Yes, this is Naruto. … Yes, I did actually remember, that whole thing, it was my bad." Sasuke heard him say it sheepishly. "I'm really sorry I forgot, it's just been such a long time since we've really…talked, you know? … We do. But that's not why I called you. … Yes, something is wrong. Something is majorly wrong. … It's Kawagari, a gang war just broke out. … How do I know? Kohana just called, she was shot in the leg. … Thank you so much, you know I appreciate it. … Alright, goodbye." And Naruto shut his phone sighing.

The raven raised an eyebrow, "Who was that?" he asked, curiosity covering his suspicion.

Naruto only looked at Sasuke, thinking of the reaction he would get if he actually told the older the truth. He knew Sasuke and his brother didn't get along, or rather, Sasuke and Itachi didn't get along. Itachi and Sasuke were just fine. But he thought is was best to tell him anyway because he would find out soon enough, "It was your older brother, Sasuke. It was Itachi."

_Ah…_ Sasuke should've known that. Still, it didn't help him from being even the tiniest bit angry and envious. "Just curious… How do you know my brother, Naruto? How do you know Itachi?" he said, mocking the style Naruto used to tell him it was Itachi.

Naruto rolled his eyes, catching this. _I knew he was the jealous type… _"I'll explain later right now what we need to do is get everyone."

_I'll make him keep his word… _Sasuke didn't like it, not in the least, Itachi…around Naruto…his Naruto! But for Naruto's sake, he would be good. Sighing, he dialed Neji's number, talked to him, then Shino's, then the rest.

"Alright, they're all on their way." Sasuke shut his phone.

Naruto turned to face him, "Sasuke, are you sure you want to do this? It's very dangerous…and I'd hate to say this- I don't want to, but I gotta say it like it is… You might not come back to Konoha alive, none of you might, not even me." he said quietly.

Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hands, "Listen, you're not going there without me, and if you die, then I'll die right along with you. Besides you should be worrying about yourself, not me…dobe." he finished in a grin. Naruto scowled.

The two lovers, Naruto and Sasuke, stood under the tree, under the beautiful starry sky, where, just a few minutes ago, everything was fine. But now, a friend was in trouble, a city was in turmoil, and a island was at stake.

Great.

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So, how was it? Awesome. I'm glad you think whatever you're thinking, because it's great!!  
**(1): **While writing this, I actually did start crying. Just thought I'd let you know.  
**(2):** This is how you say hello over the phone in Japanese. Just thought I'd let you know this as well.

Please review~!! And please consider sending your stories to me! I'm now a beta-reader!! Awesome, se ya later~!!


	11. Epilogue

**A/N-** Well here it is - the final chapter of "It's High School". It may be a little crappy, but that's alright - I won't blame you if you hate me for ending it so badly. Maybe I was just ready to get this story out of my life, I've been involved with it since 2007 - to me, that's too long. I'm glad to see that I've finally finished it though, it's my first long story that's over. It feels great.

**Disclaimer-** I don't own Naruto - so you can's sue me. Nya. Nya. Nya.

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I did all I could to sooth the blonde in my arms, none of it was working. Naruto was far gone in to sorrow and pain.

Gaara only stood, looking down at the still bodies, wondering if it was just a cruel joke. Like it used to be when they were kids. Only he knew this was real, and there was nothing he or anyone else could do to change that.

Behind Gaara was Temari and Kankurou. While Kankuro said nothing and remained still, Temari was silently sobbing. She was gone, gone forever. The little girl smiled no more. And now it was really down to the four of them. The others were dead too - and left behind only memories of a hard life.

"Why?" Naruto shouted into the gloomed sky, "Why did you take them away from us - me?" His first true crush - maybe even his first true love. And then his first best friend, she was gone too. It was as if God hated him, he made the man do it, and made him break his promise. _"We're going back to Konoha - alive. All of us."_ They were nothing but empty words now.

Shikamaru and the others stood back. They knew none of these people, so Shikamaru suggested the stay out of it.

It wasn't raining, but the clouds threatened to spill any moment. The atmosphere was so gloomy and everything was in ruins. In short: Kawagari wasn't a city anymore. It was another hell on earth.

_A few days later…_

"Oi…come on, Naruto, we're going to be late." I called, straightening out my black tie.

No reply.

It had been like this ever since we had gotten back - Naruto hadn't said a word. He barely slept, barely ate, he might as well have never been Naruto at all. Every day, the only thing he ever did was sit on the bed in his room and look at the blue jeweled necklace. He was an empty shell. Hallow. Void of all emotion.

I didn't know how much effect _their _deaths would have on him.

The bedroom door opened and out walked the blonde boy, dressed in black. A solemn look on

his face, and the blue jeweled necklace around his neck. I didn't expect him to take it off.

There weren't very many people attending the funerals, just Naruto, Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, the others that had went to Kawagari with them, and I. It was mostly in service of the two people, but it was for all the others that died too. They deserved that much.

This whole experience has pretty much changed my view on the world. It was a cold place - and it was hard to save people, especially the people you loved the most. I never cared, about anything really until I met Naruto. He gave me something to care about, something to really…live for. And as for Itachi…well, let's just say you never really know how much you love someone until you've lost them for good.

No one was saved.

I grabbed Naruto's hand and led him out of his apartment. At the entrance were three black cars, standing in front of them was everyone; they all looked at us wordlessly. I shook my head and they began opening the doors and getting in. I led Naruto to the car Gaara and the other two were in - they would want to be together for this.

As I slid myself into the car next to Naruto, I caught Gaara's eye, _"Thank you." _he mouthed, making sure Naruto wasn't looking. Until after the cremation ceremony, I wasn't quite sure why he was showing me gratitude. I nodded.

The drive was silent and I was looking out the window, my hand in Naruto's. And wouldn't you know it, the most clichéd thing in the world - it began to rain. Pfft, next thing I know, the grim reaper's gonna show at the ceremony.

A silent twenty minutes later, we were at the crematorium. All of us stood around like manikins, waiting for the people to bring in all the bodies and place them on the cremating tray. It took a while because there were so many and it just added to the pain that everyone was feeling. They were all so young…what a waste of life…

It was in the papers, you know. It was everywhere actually. News teams from all over Japan flocked to Kawagari - the port town that '"no one" knew about. And then they came here to Konoha to interview us, "the teenagers that survived the horror". I had survived nothing except for this one incident. Until this one time, my hands had never been stained with blood. Until this one time, I had never known what it was like to lose someone.

Until this one time, I had never know the burden that Naruto was bearing.

We watched as one by one, the bodies were slid into the burning chambers. At this time all

could think was _Two hours…this will take two hours to finish._ That's how long the bodies would take to turn to ash and bones. We stayed for about the first thirty minutes, some making small talk and others watching or staring blankly.

Mom and dad were there. Not that I cared. Not that they cared. Their presence was pointless. Some of the other's parents were there too, but they weren't sure why, and their kids were telling them it was best they didn't know in the first place, or they would say nothing.

I looked at Temari and Kankurou as we were walking out of the crematorium. Her death had probably effected them the most out of the four of them; they were, after all, her legal parents - the ones that saved her and Naruto from the orphanage.

No one came to me to say "Sorry for your losses", or "You have our condolences". None of the adults said that to any of us. And the many news teams that wanted their stories, well they could forget it, they weren't getting any.

No one in the world needed to know what happened for those few days in hell. _We_ didn't even need to know.

Naruto still wasn't saying anything - I didn't blame him. But it wasn't healthy, he wasn't healthy. His skin was pale and his eyes were blank. He was lifeless, the complete opposite of the Naruto I knew. And it scared me.

I wasn't sure what to do about it, what to say to make it alright. I'm sure _he _would have, seeing as he met Naruto first. But he wasn't here anymore and I just had to make-do and do my best.

What we did for the remaining time was sit around a café that, coincidentally, cleared ten minutes after we got there. Apparently, we looked like the type of people you didn't wanna screw with, especially since we were all wearing black.

Time seemed to go on in the day with no meaning at all. In fact, soon we were already picking all the bones from the ashes and transferring them to the urns, using chopsticks. Naruto didn't seem to have the strength to do it - and frankly, neither did I. But I sucked it up and went on.

The urns were sealed and it was time to take them to…well, half the people being buried had no family. I soon learned that Temari and Kankurou had bought a family plot, and that was where we put her.

I was an Uchiha, so of course we had a plot, he was no problem. But the others…who were all put together in urns mostly, had no where to be buried.

While everyone else wondered where to put them, as if they were dolls, Naruto stood idly by, watching the sky. There was nothing I could say to him to make his pain go away. But I could be here for him and let him drop all his sorrow on me.

I shrugged.

It's what you do when you love someone.

It was decided where the others would be put. With the Sabaku family plot. Gaara's idea. And a good one too, since they were all like family anyway.

Four hours ago, this day's ordeal started. Now it was over. And the only people who would really remember it was us - the people that were there.

Events fade into memories. Memories fade into dreams. Dreams fade into blackness. Blackness fades into nothing.

Uchiha Itachi, 21. Otomushi Kohana, 15. Everyone else, ?

Naruto won't get over this. And maybe he never will. But I'm here. And this is what Itachi would want me to do - because truth be told, he loved Naruto too. And Kohana? Well…I don't know.

It would all work itself out.

**-Owari-**

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Thanks for everyone who read, hope you enjoyed it.  
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